Dumbledore's Reward

"They were about to wipe your memories when the professors came?"

Staring at James with wide eyes, Alice, Hillary, Elizabeth, Frank, Dill, Frederick, Arnold, Morgan, King, Michael, Raul, Joseph, Jorkins, Katherine, Rachel, Mary, and several other young Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws listened intently for his answer. For the past twenty minutes, they had been drilling him about the events in the Forbidden Forest the night before, leaning in with bated breath as they waited for Dumbledore to announce the start of the end-of-term feast. This was the third time James had gone over the story that day, not counting how often he had to start over due to late arrivals; by now, he reckoned that the whole school knew about the episode in the forest. A short distance down the Gryffindor table, Lily tapped her fingers on the wood as she looked in the other direction, but she tilted her head closer as the others waited for James to respond.

"Yeah, they were just about to take us out into the forest when Dumbledore appeared!" James answered Frank. "Once the Death Eaters were distracted, I grabbed the nearest one's wand and fought him back with at least five others. They didn't have a chance when I summoned a wardrobe to fall on top of them."

At this, a few of the listening students gasped in admiration. Seated next to Sirius and Peter, Remus lifted his eyes to the ceiling. "Actually, it wasn't quite like tha—"

"Did you capture the witch who used Legilimency on you?" Jorkins interjected, cutting him off.

"Yep!" James replied, nodding. "Dumbledore took care of her."

"Don't forget the one I got!" Sirius added. "Dumbledore's locking all the Death Eaters away for good!"

"Where are they sending them?" Frank asked.

"Eh, some wizard prison," Sirius brushed off, clearly uninterested in the details.

"What about the big one?" Dill demanded. "Was he captured, too?"

"You mean Cray?" James clarified. "No, he got away. So did Malfoy and most of the others."

As he spoke, James glanced over his shoulder at the Slytherin table, where Narcissa Black sat sobbing into a handkerchief while another girl rubbed her back. The thin-faced seventh-year had not taken to her boyfriend's disappearance well, and she had spent nearly the whole day crying.

"I still can't believe that Malfoy joined the Death Eaters," Morgan said, sitting back. "He's always been a bit of a prat, sure, but I never thought he would go that far."

"I guess that all of the students who knew about Hydrax started spreading the word since the first day at Hogwarts," Frederick guessed.

"Probably," James added. "That's why the Slytherins seemed really tired all year: they were losing sleep over their nightly classes."

"Actually, Professor Alamanzar is the one that's bothering me," Arnold said, shaking his head. "I still can't picture someone that smart joining the Dark Lord."

"Me neither," James agreed, suddenly quiet. When the others all drifted into silence, Remus cleared his throat and turned to Sirius and Peter.

"You never told us your part of the story. How did you get the professors to the Forbidden Forest?"

"Oh, right," Sirius said, brightening. "Well, Professor Sprout was still hanging around the greenhouses when we ran back to the castle. We told her about Hagrid, and she nearly exploded when she found out that you had gone after him."

"I thought that she was going to use the Bat-Bogey Hex on us before she sent for the other Heads of Houses," Peter agreed. "She was really scary."

"It took several more minutes of explaining so that McGonagall and Flitwick wouldn't chop us to bits," Sirius continued. "That's why it took so long for us to contact you. After that, Dumbledore came, and Professor McGonagall led the way to the ruins. You know the rest."

"I can't believe that I missed all of this!" Frank exclaimed, banging his fist against the table while several of the others murmured their agreement.

"I'm just glad that the professors made it in time and nobody got hurt," Alice announced before the others' excited voices drowned out her words.

Leaning closer to James so that he could whisper without being overheard by the chatting students, Sirius said, "You still haven't told me how you found the ruins."

Throwing a glance at Remus where he sat listening to the others' arguments, James lowered his voice as he responded. "Well, the wolves must have taken Hagrid to the ruins and made it back in time to find us. We were surrounded, and I thought that they were going to tear us to shreds." As Sirius waited, he just shrugged. "In the end, they just grabbed us and dragged us to the ruins."

"Do you really think that they would have attacked you?" Sirius questioned.

"I don't know," James answered slowly. "I did for a moment, but then something seemed to change when they saw Remus." Trailing off, he glanced at Remus again. "I guess that they must have recognized him as one of their own."

Nodding, Sirius stared down at the table as the others continued to argue. After a moment, however, James turned to him again. "Remember when the Minister visited?" When Sirius nodded, he said, "Well, she was right about Lord Voldemort infiltrating Hogwarts, so it looks like Remus was wrong after all. Whether Dumbledore planned it or not, he's got to start training the school for war. If the Death Eaters have already begun, then so should we!"

Sirius sat up and smiled at James' words, a spark alighting in his eyes just as King broke up a rising fight between two Ravenclaws. "It's nothing that we could have prepared for," the dark fifth-year calmed, pushing the two students away from each other. "No one knew about the meetings, and the members weren't about to let their secret slip."

"Well, I'm not surprised in the least!" Jorkins exclaimed. "I knew that something fishy was going on as soon as I walked into the castle this year!"

"Oh, really?" Dill asked, drumming his fingers on the table, and Jorkins mistook his question for a sign of interest.

"Something about the way Professor Alamanzar looked at me told me that he was up to no good!" she explained.

"Are you sure it wasn't just because you were failing his class?" Morgan asked under her breath, but Jorkins overheard and turned on her.

"He knew that I was onto him!" she insisted, but she quickly switched gears. "You know, I heard from Tulip Waters that the Slytherins lost over 300 House points last night."

"Really?" James asked, straightening. Although eager to believe her, he knew better than to trust her without evidence.

"It must be true," Hillary agreed, and everyone turned to her. "I passed the hourglasses in the Entrance Hall today, and Slytherin's was nearly empty."

"Wait, if they just lost 300 points, where does that put us?" Sirius asked, leaning forward.

Hillary opened her mouth to reply, but a murmur suddenly wafted across the Great Hall as the double doors opened, making further conversation impossible. Everyone scurried back to their House tables as Slughorn and Flitwick stepped into the room, leading a glum line of Slytherins and Ravenclaws found in the Forbidden Forest the previous night. All of the students had their heads down to avoid the hundreds of pairs of staring eyes, and several of them rubbed sore spots on their arms; Filch had spent the entire day overseeing their work while they scrubbed out the lower levels of the dungeon.

When they approached the Slytherin table, Avery and Mulciber took their places next to Wilkes, where he was already seated with a handful of other students. Gritting his teeth, James glared in their direction; thanks to Whorst's exclamation last night, he was certain that Wilkes had attended Hydrax as well, but he had unfortunately not been found with the other students.

"He should be getting it with them," James hissed to his roommates, nodding at Wilkes.

Sneering, Sirius nodded. "It would be far simpler to punish all of the Slytherins at once."

Leaning over, Peter pointed towards the end of the Slytherin table, where Regulus sat watching his Housemates' procession. "Do you think that he ever went into the Forbidden Forest?"

Starting, Sirius blinked a few times as he stared at his brother. Concerned, James, Remus, and Peter studied their friend while he frowned.

"Blimey . . . I don't know," Sirius finally answered. "For all we know, he might have."

"We didn't see him in the Forbidden Forest," Remus consoled. "There's no reason to believe that he ever joined them."

Shaking his head, Sirius glanced down at the table. "I wouldn't put it past him," he muttered, sliding his crossed arms onto the table.

As silence returned, James looked back at the Slytherin table, glancing over Narcissa as she blew into her handkerchief and instead locking eyes with Snape, who had just sat down next to Mulciber. Glaring back at him, the greasy-haired boy curled his lip and turned his head away to stare at the opposite end of the room. Not taking his eyes off of him, James felt the heat rise in his cheeks as he remembered how Snape had sat by while the Death Eaters nearly erased his and Remus' memories. Snape had not displayed any sign of remorse during the previous night's events, and although James knew that the Slytherin had never got along with him or his friends, he could not help but clench his fists at his complete lack of sympathy.

Another murmur eventually broke through James' thoughts, and he turned towards the High Table as Dumbledore stood and approached the podium to address the students. To James' pleasure, he glimpsed Professor Slughorn cross his arms and glower as he took his seat at the end of the table, apparently displeased by his House's fall from grace so late in the school year. Reaching the podium, Dumbledore raised his arms for attention, and he received it immediately.

"Congratulations on reaching the end of the school year without the loss of your sanity or any major limbs," Dumbledore began with a beam. "Now, I am sure that you all have plans for the evening, so I will keep these announcements as brief as possible. As many of you have undoubtedly heard, last night provided a few unfortunate surprises, and the staff members and I have spent most of today dealing with the aftermath of those events. Thankfully, most of the . . . difficulties have been taken care of," he said, and James thought back to the captured Death Eaters. "Although the most important thing is that Hogwarts is secure once again, I have yet to give out recognition to a few students and their hot-headed, foolish, and ultimately heroic actions."

Sitting up, James watched as Dumbledore gestured to the enchanted ceiling, completely devoid of decorations aside from the floating candles. "According to the Houses' previous standings, Slytherin and Ravenclaw should have been in close competition for the House Cup. However, last night warranted a sudden drop in their statuses, leaving Gryffindor and Hufflepuff in the lead. Still, before I reveal the final count, I must make some last-minute changes. Four young students displayed an unusual amount of pluck and quick-thinking last night, which very well may have saved Hogwarts."

Keeping his eyes locked on the Headmaster, James felt his heart begin to race as Dumbledore extended a hand towards the Gryffindor table. "To bravery which ended up revealing a black plot in the midst of the school, I award James Potter and Remus Lupin 50 points each."

Instantly, the room burst into applause, and James felt several arms thudding him on his back as a grin as wide as the Great Hall sprang onto his face. Turning to Remus, he pulled him upright to stop him from sinking down into his seat, causing his roommate to turn an even deeper shade of scarlet.

Dumbledore raised his arms again, and the room hushed as quickly as it had erupted. "To haste which ensured the safety of the school's students, I award Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew 50 points each."

Now everyone at the Gryffindor table jumped to their feet, and Peter almost fell over when his Housemates jerked him and Sirius to a standing position. Leaping up as well, James grabbed Sirius in a headlock, rubbing his shoulder-length hair out of place before he could wriggle away. From the High Table, Dumbledore waited for a state of relative quiet to return before continuing.

"However, in the process of last night's actions, several rules were broken. As stated at the beginning of the year, under no circumstances are students to enter the Forbidden Forest alone, and that command still stands. Therefore, Gryffindor will lose 100 points for rash decisions." There were a few cries of outrage from the Gryffindors, but Dumbledore quickly silenced them with a raised voice. "All rules are created for a reason, and I will not allow them to be broken without repercussions. On the other hand," he continued, a softer gleam appearing in his blue eyes, "thanks to certain precautions taken by the gentlemen of the hour, we also found out the exact scope of the events in the Forbidden Forest, something that would have taken extra time and frustration to figure out after the fact. Consequently, I will grant another 30 points to Gryffindor. Still, 50 more points should be taken, because I gave explicit orders to Mr. Black and Mr. Pettigrew to stay behind in the Forbidden Forest during the tussle, a command that they unwisely refused to heed."

Not sure of how to react, the entire room quieted as Dumbledore rubbed his bearded chin and stared up at the starry ceiling. "I suppose that 50 is a little harsh; after all, one deserves to be young once, and no harm came out of it. Perhaps I should go down to 45. No, not quite that either, but certainly not 40 . . ."

Clapping his hands, he looked up again with a smile. "Forty-two, then. As the new scores stand, Slytherin has 85 points, Ravenclaw 390, Gryffindor 463, and Hufflepuff 510. I believe that this means I can finally put up the decorations."

Raising his hand to the ceiling, Dumbledore magically conjured a dozen flags emblazoned with Hufflepuff's yellow and black crest. Stunned into silence with the rest of the Gryffindors, James watched as the painted badgers flapped and settled into place while the tables below suddenly filled with food for the end-of-year feast. As the Hufflepuffs began whooping and embracing each other, James slowly turned to face his roommates, who had all lapsed into silence.

Finally, Sirius raised his newly-conjured glass in a salute. "Well, you can't have everything," he said, and the others nodded before downing a long gulp from their matching goblets. From the corner of his eye, James spotted Dumbledore walk back towards the High Table, stopping to slap the open-mouthed Professor Slughorn on the shoulder before taking a seat.

After retiring to their dormitory for a restful night's sleep, James and his roommates threw their last few belongings into their suitcases for the journey home. Before they left the Hogwarts grounds, they waved one last goodbye to Fang when he limped out from behind Hagrid's hut with a slow wag of his tail, a little unsteady from his adventure in the Forbidden Forest but no worse for the wear. Once they had reached the scarlet Hogwarts Express in Hogsmeade Station, James climbed aboard and started searching for an empty compartment, passing several of his Housemates on the way. Nearly to his destination, he did not notice Lily and Alice until they had already passed him.

"Hey!" he called out on a whim, and the two girls turned around. Crossing his arms, James said, "I hope you aren't still friends with that greasy slime-ball, Evans. Have you asked him about the Forbidden Forest yet? He and his Death Eater chums are on pretty good terms."

Although Lily narrowed her eyes, James spotted a cloud pass over her eyes before she answered. "I think that I would trust his word over yours—don't think I didn't notice how your story changed every time you told it. And for your information, I didn't speak to him at all yesterday, and as far as I'm concerned, he'd better have a really good explanation before he tries to talk to me again."

Opening his mouth, James was about to say how he would like to see Snape come up with an explanation, but the very same boy suddenly ran up from behind Lily and slowed to a stop, panting. Straightening as the girls turned towards him, Snape shot a quick glance at James and his roommates, and the sight of them caused him to ball up his fists as he turned to face Lily.

"I wanted to talk to you," he said before throwing a passing glance at Alice. "In private."

"Whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of Alice," Lily told him. When Snape withdrew, she crossed her arms while Alice turned her round face between the two of them. "You have a lot of explaining to do before I'm talking to you again," Lily declared. "Either start now or forget about it."

After pausing briefly as if expecting Snape to object, Lily turned and stalked off down the hallway with Alice following quickly in her wake, leaving the Slytherin standing by himself. Smirking, James watched Snape as he looked back at his spectators and glared.

"Looks like we're not the only ones who have you figured out," James told Snape, and the black-eyed student sneered.

"You'd better watch your back, Potter," he hissed. "Next time, Dumbledore might not be there to save you and your less fortunate friend."

Catching the jab, Remus looked down at the floor. Feeling the hair on the back of his neck shoot upwards, James clenched his fists and growled, "What do you mean by that?"

Smirking at James' reaction, Snape stuck his hooked nose into the air before continuing. "Come on now, everyone knows that Lupin can hardly afford the clothes on his back. Honestly, I'm surprised that he scrounged up enough money to attend Hogwarts at all. Has he ever told you what his parents do for a living? Do they even have jobs?"

In a flash, James' and Sirius' wands were both pointed at Snape, whose smile instantly fell. "Say that again," James snarled, "and I'll turn your tongue into a slug." Looking on, Peter and a few other passing students glanced between the three boys, waiting for a fight to break out. Remus' gaze had now risen from the floor to the nearby wall, which he studied with interest.

"You should be speaking for yourself, Snivellus," Sirius spat, glancing Snape up and down with distaste. "Are those your mum's old robes?"

Drawing back, Snape briefly clutched his collar while the other students laughed. He opened his mouth with a scowl, but James cut him off before he could speak. "Get out of here, Sniv, or I'll make you wish that you had."

Shutting his mouth, Snape glared at him before turning around and heading off down the hallway. As he stalked away amid the chuckles of the nearby students, James lowered his wand and jerked open the door to an empty compartment, ushering inside Sirius, Peter, and Remus, who had suddenly snapped to attention again.

When he closed the door, James watched as Sirius collapsed next to the window and pulled out a few Galleons from inside his robes. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm starving. When the Honeydukes Express gets here, treats are on me."

"Ace! Thanks, Sirius!" Peter said, sitting down across from him and swinging his legs.

"Here, I have my chess set from home," James announced, pulling out his board. "Want to join me, Remus?"

"All right," Remus agreed after a moment's pause, and the two prepared to spend the next few hours in avid meditation.

Although James won the first game rather quickly, Remus rapidly improved and captured James' king twice after that. When the Honeydukes Express passed by their compartment, James decided to cut his losses and put away the game while Sirius lived up to his promise and bought half of the trolley's merchandise, much to the delight of Peter. In no time at all, the four roommates had emptied the assorted wrappers and bags down to only chocolate stains, and James found a few sticky remains on his fingers as the Hogwarts Express began to lose speed later in the evening. Gathering their items, the boys headed out into the smoky interior of King's Cross Station as soon as the train had stopped.

"James!" two voices called out almost immediately, and James turned to spot his parents waving against the far wall of the platform.

"Come on!" James told his friends, dragging them towards his parents. When they reached them, James' mother enveloped her son in a quick hug before turning and doing the same to Sirius.

"I don't believe that we've had the pleasure of meeting you yet," James' father told Remus and Peter, offering his hand to both of them in turn.

"I'm Remus."

"And I'm Peter!"

"It feels like you're already a part of the family!" James' mother told them, smiling. "James has told us all about you!"

"He has?" Remus asked, glancing quickly at James.

"Don't worry!" James proclaimed, raising his hands. "I haven't told them everything; if I did, they wouldn't let me go back to Hogwarts." As the others laughed, James winked at Remus, who smiled gratefully.

"I hope that we'll be seeing more of you during the summer!" James' father said, now addressing Sirius as well. "You're always welcome at our house."

"Don't worry—I'll make sure that I can get away," Sirius answered.

"I'll come, too, James!" Peter piped up.

"There's no excuse this time," James announced, turning to Remus. "If you don't visit, I'm going to fly to your window and kidnap you, and I can't speak for how steadily my broom flies with two passengers."

"Noted," Remus answered, another smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"I'm also expecting a lot more letters than I got last summer," James added. "I was beginning to think that you had all died."

"What?" Peter asked, tilting his head. "But I was writing to you every week!"

"Well, aside from you, Peter," James clarified.

"James is right, you know," James' mother said, patting Sirius on the shoulder. "I want a house full of boys by the summer's end!"

"You'll take that back when we get there," Sirius joked, and everyone laughed before Remus glanced away.

"I really should be finding my parents," he excused himself.

"Yeah, my Mum will have my hide if she thinks I got lost again," Peter agreed, and James' parents clasped hands with Sirius, Remus, and Peter one last time before turning.

"Come on, James!" his mother beckoned, leading him away by the shoulder.

"Wait one moment, will you?" James pleaded, and his parents allowed him to race away and drag his friends to the side, gathering them in a circle. After glancing over his shoulders to make sure that no one would overhear them, he looked pointedly at the others. "Before we leave, let's make a pact: by the end of the summer, we're going to find a way to make Remus' transformations bearable."

"I'll see if my parents have any books about werewolves," Sirius announced. "You never know what kind of ghastly things you'll find on our bookshelves."

"I'm sure that Hogwarts has loads on the subject," Peter guessed. "As soon as we get back, we can look through the library."

"At the very least, we'll come back to school with a plan," James declared.

"Blimey, we'll make a cure if we have to!" Sirius added with finality.

Glancing from one sincere face to the next, Remus eventually let a smile break across his face. "Thanks, mates," he told them as his eyes began to water.

Smiling, they all held onto each other for a few more moments before breaking apart. As Sirius, Remus, and Peter ran off in opposite directions, spinning briefly to wave back at him, James felt his heart swell in his chest. Walking back to his parents, he hoisted Hardwin's cage over his shoulder and led the way towards the metal wall separating Platform Nine and Three-Quarters from the rest of King's Cross Station, throwing one last glance over his shoulder at Sirius' bobbing head before it disappeared into the crowd. Whatever he and his roommates encountered in their next year at Hogwarts, James knew that they would be able to face it head-on as long as they stuck together.

This concludes James Potter and the Lost School! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. The next excerpt in James' story is on the way, but I am taking a short hiatus during the summer due to travel plans and other commitments. However, just because I stay quiet for a couple of months doesn't mean that I'm not working my tail off behind the scenes! The third book is being edited while the fifth is only starting. (And yes: I said fifth.) Be forgiving with me, and stay tuned for James Potter and He Is Still Filthy Rich. :)