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Chapter 21:

On Thursday morning James got up before the other Gryffindor boys and made his way down to the Quidditch pitch for his traditional morning fly. He zoomed across the sky on his nimbus 1000 as the sun rose in the east. James sighed as he landed; he could have flown all day. He made his way back up to the castle to get ready for breakfast. Once inside the school he ran into Lily coming out of the library, "what are you doing up this early?"

"None of your business, Potter!" Lily roared.

"Ok. Whatever." James quickly made his way back to the common room. Lily fell into step beside James, hating the fact that she had to walk with him if she wanted to get back to the dormitory in time for breakfast. They didn't speak until they reached the portrait hole. James moved to let Lily through without saying a word. When they reached the stairs to the dormitories, James opened his mouth to speak but Lily cut across him, "any way see you later."

"See you," James replied.

The boys were getting dressed as James made his way into the dormitory, "where have you been?" Remus asked.

"With Rachel perhaps?" Sirius winked.

"No… I went down to the Quidditch pitch."

"Right," Sirius laughed.

"Never mind," Remus said, "Just hurry up and shower. It's nearly time for breakfast."

Sirius leant over him, sniffing gently, "you're right! You smell bad! You must have been flying!"

"Thanks Sirius!"

After breakfast the marauders made their way to classroom 3C for their defence lesson. They lined up outside as the door was locked. When Professor Bartlet finally arrived he smiled at the students, "in you come."

They quickly walked into the classroom and took their seats. "Did you enjoy your night off homework? I think two or three essays a week will be adequate. What do you think?"

The class murmured their agreement. "Today we are going to be looking at poltergeists. I've asked Peeves to join us for today's lesson. Say hello Peeves."

"Hello ickle little second years!" Peeves said loudly.

"A poltergeist is an indestructible spirit of chaos. They can fly and delight in vandalism, malicious mischief and the general aggravation and embarrassment of living persons. They live purely for their own amusement. Sadly there is no way to get rid of a poltergeist once it has made its home in your house – much to Mr Filch's distaste."

Several people laughed. "Poltergeists are similar to ghosts but differ in a number of ways. Any ideas? Miss Evans?"

"Ghosts are incorporeal whilst poltergeists are solid enough to move objects with physical force."

"Very good Miss Evans. Mr Potter?"

"Poltergeists have never been an alive human being."

"Fantastic. It is unsure exactly why that is. Although it is thought that they have amortality. That is that they can never die as they were never alive to begin with. Another option is that they feed off of the chaos they cause and therefore if the house is left desolate or abandoned the poltergeist might simply cease to exist. Mr MacNair do you have any ideas?"

"No sir."

"What a shame. Miss Prewett?"

"Yes. Unlike ghosts they are vulnerable to some hexes such as langlock."

"Very good, indeed. Ten points each to Mr Potter, Miss Evans and Miss Prewett. I want you to practice your hexes. I have asked Peeves to allow you to hex him – just this once – and he has agreed. So line up and we will begin."

The class quickly got themselves into a line with the wands out. They quickly took it in turns to hex Peeves. Most of the spells didn't seem to work but there were a few that succeeded. "Right – please make a list of the spells that worked against Peeves for future reference."

The class quickly made their lists. "Now we will spend the rest of the class listening to Peeves telling us his life story." Bartlet said, less enthusiastically.

"I have been the Hogwarts poltergeist since 993 when the school was founded. I have spent my existence annoying students and teachers alike. Peevsie take great delight in annoying Argus – the caretaker." Peeves continued for about ten minutes talking about his time at Hogwarts. The Gryffindors were still talking about Peeve's story when they were sat in charms class. He had used aggressive arm gestures and loud explosive noises. Charms was incredibly boring. Only Lily felt interested at all. The rest of the class talked amongst themselves.

When the lesson was over the Gryffindors made their way down to the Herbology greenhouses. James and the others talked about what they were planning to do at the weekend. Lily walked with Trevor, talking about her own plans for the weekend. "What are you doing at the weekend?"

"Not much. You?" Lily replied.

"I was just wondering if you would like to hang out with me on Saturday," Trevor replied nervously.

"Erm, sure," Lily replied, going slightly red.

"Cool," Trevor said, "so I'll meet you at breakfast."

The Gryffindors waited outside of the xylomancy classroom. There was only two other students taking the class besides the Gryffindors. The teacher called them in, asking them to take a seat. "Xylomancy is one of the many arts of divination. We will be spending the year analyzing pieces of burning wood."

The Gryffindors laughed slightly. They tried really hard to take it seriously but struggled immensely. "Remind me not to take divination as an elective," Alice whispered. Even Lily was failing to take the class seriously.

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Next chapter...

Friday...

Frog Choir rehearsal...