The next day , James found himself in the first class Potions , they were brewing befuddlement draught . He was sitting on table along with Peter , his usual partner , initially he and Sirius were together but due to there continuous disturbance they were separated not only in potions but in all classes . James was good at potions but not as good as Snape or Lily , Lily was always on top of class in potions . James saw that she was sitting along with Snape her potions partner and was entirely focused in her cauldron , Snape kept looking at her every now and then , this boiled James' blood . Why she is friend with that git he can never understand.
" Prongs , focus on your cauldron otherwise your potion will be messed up , just like mine ." Said Pete , his potion has turned yellow instead of red .
" I think you have added more scurvy grass than required , wormtail ." he replied , and brought his focus back to his cauldron continuing string , his was not bright red as mentioned but was red .
" Good work Mr. Potter , though you could have done better if your sneezewort was properly mixed ." said Slughorn as he passed his cauldron.
" Oh, Mr. Pettigrew , you need to work hard " he said examining Pete cauldron , than said loudly to whole class "Befuddlement draught is important potion for O.W.L. , all of you should practice it again ... even if you have brewed it perfectly today " his eyes on Sirius who was sniggering at Remus.
" Ah ! Perfect potion Ms Evans , very good my girl , 5 points to Gryffindor for a perfect potion I have seen a brew in last 3 years ." He exclaimed , after seeing Lily's bright red potion. " And how is your Duel practice going , I wish you and Mr. Potter luck , you both will surely win today against Uganda. "
" Thanks Professor , we are working hard " replied Lily and Slughorn moved to Mary's cauldron .
James saw Snape muttering something to Lily and Lily giving him a sharp look and speaking something he cant hear.
Lily was rather happy this morning , having practiced hard last day , and having just won 5 points , she was in high spirits unless Snape spoke after Slughorn left , he was nice before that , but on mention of Potter;'s name his expression changed.
" I feel bad that you have to keep up with that arrogant Potter , he was the reason you lost on that day . He is rather proud of himself thinking he is the greatest ." sneered Snape.
" It was not all his fault that we lost , it was both of our faults , and we tend to lose to learn from our mistakes. And he is working hard to win ." snapped Lily. Snape couldn't bear this .
" He just does that to impress others, he bunks classes and he and his group are always up to something , I have seen them sneak out at night , and that Lupin , he misses classes every full moon , I guess he is a were-" but before he could finish , Lily cut hm. Lily panicked what if snape found out , than Remus can get in trouble.
" Why are you so focussed on them , leave them on their own , and I want potions copy , if you can lend them to me , I have to match my notes " she lied in attempt to change the topic from Remus.
" Yeah sure ." he gave the notes to Lily and Lily pretended to be focusing on notes .
" Today we will practice cheering charm , each year it is asked in O. , now partner up and start practising it, and Ms Evans and Mr Potter , if you will come here please." the class began to pair up .
" Are you both prepared for today ? " he asked them , they nodded " Excellent , in last duel you missed their trick and fell into their trap , but I hope you learn from that mistakes , now go back and practice the charm " said Flitwick .
All other students were paired , that left James and Lily to partner together , both found it very easy after practising advanced spells and mastered it within 10 minutes , while their friends were still struggling. So, they decided to go over tactics for today's match .
"Todays first duel is between Uganda and Hogwarts ." said the commentator.
The duel began.
James was relying more on nonverbal spells while Lily on verbal , today they were both going aggressive not giving Uganda contestants chance to attack , The Uganda duelers were busy on defending themselves , the trick was to exhaust the opponent and forcing them to move to attacking , and using that as opportunity to defeat them. And their plan succeded.
One of the opponent gave up first and sent a stunning jinx at them , James flicked his wand and reversed the direction of the jinx and it hit the caster himself.
Now, it was two vs one , Mukasa sent an arrow spell and James was late by a second and it touched him on his shoulder cutting a gash and began bleeding . Lily took the opportunity
" Expelliarmus " , the wand flew from the opponents hand and Lily caught it .
" Ebublio " James said lazily and Mukasa was trapped in a giant water bubble .
Cheers erupted from all around the stands , James and Lily High-Fived , " That was show off " Lily said but was smiling.
Professor Flitwick freed Mukasa from the bubble . Professor Mcgonagall came running to them and lead them to Madame Pomfrey for health examine , Pomfrey applied lotions on James shoulder and gave them both a potion to drink .
" Come to me if the shoulder hurts again ." she said and they both left .
" Now we are on second spot after Durmstrang , they have nearly qualified for the final . " Lily exclaimed .
" Just we have to win against Beauxbaton and we will be in the final ." Said James. There duel against Beauxbaton was tomorrow . They decided to rest and practice tomorrow morning .
Time flew very fast for Lily as she found herself standing along James against Noah and Victoire for last duel before the final , it was important match for both the sides . Whoever wins reaches the final against Durmstrang who had won all their duels .
Lily and James had gone to Shreiking Shack again after breakfast , bunking classes , and had practiced for four hours before returning , their practice went well , but both of them were nervous but neither of them showed it.
"Bow ... On count of three...one...two...three..."
James flicked his wand to cast a shield around them and then started attacking the opponents.
Beauxbaton were good at defensive front but not so good at attacking.
James and Lily therefore , shifted from attacking to defensive mode while sending hexes , and jinxes every now and then , the beauxbatons were accepting them to be aggressive like last match but it didn't happened .
Noah now was attacking while Victoire was defending , but James and Lily were both going defensive and waiting for a chance to attack them .
Noah pointed his wand towards James and Lily and muttered a spell , a lot of sharp edged burning knives erupted from his wand towards them . James quickly flicked his wand and muttered a spell , all the knives froze in the middle before changing into a large net which flew back towards Noah and Victoire , Victoire escaped it , but Noah was shocked and before he could understand what has happened he was trapped in the net.
Lily immediately turned to attacking , and James joined her after disarming Noah with a flick of his wand . Victoire held her ground for about a minute before being thrown back on ground her wand escaping out of her hand . She tried to reach for wand but Lily sent a rope which tied Victoire .
"James Potter and Lily Evans have reached the finals which will be held day after tomorrow on 13th , they will be facing Durmstrang who has won all their duels ."
After dinner ,James was sitting with marauders in common room watching Remus and Pete play snapping snap. Sirius was nowhere to seen .
" I bet he is off to astronomy tower with Lucy " said Peter , carefully pilling out a card , the other two nodded .
" Sirius is never serious about relationships " sniggered James and the other two laughed , Remus lost his focus and the pack exploded giving him a cut on his forehead .
" I WON" shrieked Pete , hands in air.
"James saige is here " shouted Marls , the three girls were sitting near a window .
James opened the window and let the owl to come in , he untied the letter gave Saige a small piece of chocolate , the owl hooted and flew out of the window.
" Who is it from " asked Marls as James sat beside her in light to read the letter .
" Uncle Ben" he replied , and opened the letter .
Dear James,
Congratulations on entering the final , I was waiting for the duel result before replying .
I read your letter and to be fair we I also have no idea what they were talking but I know that Malfoy , Lestrange and Bellatrix are in close circle of Voldemort .
Your parents didn't wanted to put you in worry but I think you should know , It seems that Voldemort is recruiting students from Hogwarts and also from Shamrock and other small Magical schools . And he has quite succeeded also.
From what you heard it seems that whatever they are upto is not good , the Carrows family are strong supporter of Voldemort and I think that those Carrows are also aspiring to do the same.
I have forwarded your letter to Dumbledore , but he also cant take any steps without any proof.
I will advise you to be safe and focus on the Final and your O. , don't do anything that I wont do .
Hope to see you in summer .
ALL THE BEST!
-Uncle Ben
" What has he written ?"asked Marlene.
" Oh nothing ... just congratulating me and wishing me luck for final duel." James replied putting the letter in his bag.
" Oh " said Marls.
James feeling tired so was off to bed early than the others.
The next day was Saturday so most people were lazy , James however was one of the first to arrive at the Great Hall , he had tried to drag the marauders with him but they had locked him out of dorm for disturbing them , last night while James was sleeping they had all been doing their assignments , which James was grateful to as he need not do it .
He finished his breakfast and took out book on Great Duels of History and began reading that of Dumbledore and Grindelwald . Though he continued peeking looks at Slytherin table which was empty except for six third years or fourth years .
" Hey Potter , good morning, you are up so early and that on weekend" said a voice.
He looked away from his book the girl who has taken seat in front of him.
" Hey Mary , good morning , where is your pack ?"asked James .
" Asleep , and might I ask you the same about your pack "
" Same , asleep , they locked me out when I forced them to get up." he shrugged , Mary laughed .
" You should see Lily in the morning , she gets all angry and grumpy , she starts throwing things if we try to wake her early "
" Nice , I would love to do that " he grinned .
" You love all things about her " she pointed out putting foods on her plate. " What are you reading ?"
" Just some great duels to prepare for tomorrow ." he said .
" You know everyone has their own style to duel ."
" Yeah , but it gives some insights to what are the possible ways to do some moves and other stuffs"
" Yeah that's right ."
" Why are you stuffing the biscuits in your bag ?" he asked
" Oh it's for Ivy , my cat , she likes biscuits ." Mary said .
" Hmm , I am not much of a fan of cats , I prefer owl or a dog can be good , though I will love to have a hippogriff as a pet ." smirked James.
" Oh it's sad that you don't like cats ." Said Mary dramatically .
" Why ? "
" Because , it so happens that Lily loves cats "
" She loves cats , Then why hasn't she got one ? She hasn't got any pets as far as I know ."
" Because earlier she used to have one at home but it died , she thought of getting an owl , so that she can be talk to us but her sister was against it , so she didn't get one ." shrugged Mary.
" How does she talk to you and Marls then ?"
" Marls owl come and deliver messages between us three sometimes , however I talk to Lily via telephone usually . If I would have known that owls are that useful I would have brought an owl , but I don't regret as Ivy is very lovely , and to be fair being muggleborn and living among muggles , having an Owl as pet is quite odd . "
" Oh , and what is Telenope ? " he asked and Mary laughed .
" Its telephone , each has a number on which we talk to others ." she replied.
" What are you both talking about ? " asked Sirius sitting beside James , soon Pete and Moony sat .
" Nothing , just talking about muggle worlds." Mary replied .
Soon they were joined by Lily and Marls.
" Prongs , why you are continuously sneaking glances at slytherins ?" asked Remus , all of them followed the line of sight of James , who was looking at four slytherins , who were having closed discussions.
" Oh , I forgot about that ." said Lily .
" What ?" asked Marlene .
" Nothing its just that Evans and I forgot about early practice , come Evans we should hurry , see you all later ."
" But..." Lily was about to protest but James cut her off and gave her a look .
" Come Evans , we will be late ." with that he took her hand to help her get off the table and walked out of the hall.
"Well that was odd , as usually its Lily who drags James to practice ." exclaimed Marls .
" Probably , the nerves of finals " suggested Pete .
" Why didn't you let me tell about that night to others ?" Lily asked once they were out of hall .
" Because Sirius will become reckless about it and will end up doing something stupid. " shrugged James.
" Why ? "
" Well ,as you know he left his house and the slytherins are always taunting him about it , though Sirius never shows that he is affected but he gets hurt , they are his family , his brother , his mother . And seeing that Regulus is more involved with the wrong group he gets more angry , and the slytherins are not helping it , they always found excuse to call him traitor.
" His parents forced him to support and join death eaters and abuse muggles and muggle borns , he refused , and they even beat him and used curses on him , so he left , he says he would rather die than support a death eater , than also everyone supposes him to be supporter of this discriminative ideas , just because he is a 'BLACK' . He even considered changing his surname but that was not possible .
" And if he founds that Slytherins are upto something he would cross lines to find about it."
"Its so brave and courageous of Black to stand against his own family for the right thing ."
" I know he is a brave one but just a little reckless " chuckled James
" Just a little reckless ? " Lily laughed and james joined .
" But we ought to tell someone about that night ." Lily said
" Dumledore knows , I told my uncle and he told Dumbledore , nothing more can done as we have no proof ." frowned James.
" Yeah right ."
" So lets go and do practice at shrieking shack." said James .
Soon it was midnight and Lily laid on her bed trying hard to sleep but failed , THE FINAL IS TOMORROW , fuck, so she decided to go to common room for a little walk and relax her mind , 'relax' she opened her trunk and took out a square shaped thing and put it in her pocket.
When she reached the common room it was empty except for one black haired boy who was sitting in front of fire fidgeting .
" Cant sleep ?" Lily asked . James jumped and turned to see Lily standing behind him.
" No "
" Me neither , I tried to sleep but cant , I am nervous ." she said sitting next to him , the room was rather cold .
" Yeah me too " said James .
" I didn't knew that ' The James Potter ' gets nervous after playing so much quidditch "
" I get nervous before each quidditch but I cover it up by flying , and tomorrow is important than quidditch , its on international level ." he said .
" Hmm , hey I have something for nerves " she said and took out the walkman " Here lets listen some music ."
James grinned and took one of the ear plugs and put in his left ear , Lily put the other one in her right ear.
"Music surely helps in this condition , I love this song ." said James as ' Yellow submarine ' played and they both found themselves singing it together.
They listened and sang along to more songs all worries of tomorrow forgotten .
" Good morning Lily ." said Hestia Jones , Lily's fourth dorm mate as Lily sat down beside her for breakfast.
" Morning " replied Lily , the nervousness returning , she looked across the breakfast table and found him with other marauders.
" All prepared for today's duel " she asked .
" Yeah , just nervous " Lily shrugged .
" Dont be nervous we all are already proud of you that you have made it to the finals , and today's result doesn't matter as I know you will give your best. " said Jones.
" Thanks Hestia for your support ."
The day was flowing rather fast , after breakfast both James and Lily had practised for three hours and then decided to relax and calm and go over their plans and tactics . Although Flitwick gave them permission and provided his class for practice , they ended up in Shrieking Shack , as it was more quieter than the castle and the fact that they were used to practice their.
" They will know that we are feinting , we have to come up with more clever plan " Lily suggested when James told her about a tactic .
" Yes, we have to because we might not be able to defeat them in straight duel " he said flipping the pages of his book.
After another hour of discussion all tactics and plans were made and now they just had to wait for the Final , which was to begin in two hours , and they both found themselves nervous and slight panicking .
" We should go back for lunch we need energy for later" James suggested .
" Yeah , but I don't want to go in the crowded hall , it drives me crazy , I prefer to be left alone than to be the center ." frowned Lily .
" Ok ,than we will just go to the kitchen and eat in peace "
" I like that "
It was time for final Duel , everyone had arrived in the stands , James and Lily were standing on the stage , ready to duel. Yuri and Dmitri of Durmstrang had defeated them in their previous match up. So they were having the upper hand , but James and Lily had recovered from that and were now a pretty strong pair . The duel was neck to neck.
"All right ladies and gentlemen , the day has come , today is the final duel of the ' UNDERAGE DUELLING CHAMPIONSHIP' , the winning pair gets 100 galleons , and glory . The duel is going to be an interesting one , both the pairs have shown exceptional talents and tonight is the night they will face each other ." said the commentator .
"Bow " Lily was taking deep breathe to calm herself.
" Wands at ready " James took out his wand , a determination in his face.
" On the count of three ..." Both Lily and James looked at each other and nodded before facing the opponents, " one...two...three..."
BANG ! BANG! BANG!
Hexes and Jinxes fired from both ends , both side fighting as though they were fighting for their lives.
"OPPUNGO"
"BAUBILLIONS"
"CONFUNDO"
"PROTEGO"
"FLIPPENDO"
"RICTUSEMPRA"
Dmitri pointed flicked his wand and three large ropes with knife front emerged and moved towards James and Lily , James flicked his wand at the ropes , the ropes rose high in the air tied themselves in a knot and tuned into an iron mace with thrones and proceeded fastly to hit Dmitri who ducked it just in time .
The duel continued like this for another 30 minutes neither side backing down or giving opponent any opportunity. The crowd had all gone silence and only sounds of incarnation and bangs and explosion were heard , everyone was now sitting on their seat edges watching the duel very closely.
Lily casted a shield charm around them as James was attacking , soon they had to start their plan . Lily flicked her wand at destroyed the opponents shield and tried sending a hex in their way but they were quick to deflect it . She shoot a dozens a fire balls in their directions which they escaped and sent another hex in their direction.
" FIANTO DURI" shouted James , this was it , they have began the plan , her heart rate increased as she ducked two curses before sending one towards Yuri which threw him a few steps backward . ' PLAY BY YOUR STRENGTH ' James had pointed out from his duel book.
"FUMOS MAXIMA "muttered James as slowly as possible and than he found and grabbed Lily's hand .
Thick Blue smoke covered the entire stage , the crowd and the judges all got confused , there was pin drop silence in the whole stadium as everyone focused hard on the stage but could see nothing but thick blue smoke .
Yuri wasn't able to see anything he didn't speak in the fear to giveaway his location , he didn't know where Dmitri was , he dared not throw a jinx in fear to hit him or giveaway his location , a sound of glass shattering echoed throughout the stadium from around him , he tightened his grip on his wand and looked in each direction ready to throw a jinx , then he heard the sound of a heavy thing hitting the stage's ground followed by a fearful shriek a horrible one ,of god know what , was it sound of a banshee ?
" Is that a shriek of a banshee ? " asked Peter in fearful voice .
" It sounds like one " said Sirius .
" Do you have any idea what's going down there ?" asked Mary
" No , I dont know , I have read about several duels in history but this is a new one ." said Remus
" I just hope Lily and James are okay , it doesn't sounds good ." said Marlene and the others nodded.
" Dmitri , where are you ? " asked a voice , but Dmitri couldn't tell from which direction , it sounded like that of Yuri's.
" I am here " said Dmitri clutching his wand tightly , he heard a sound of glass breaking .
Slowly the smoke was clearing but Dmitri was confused by the sight in front of him , he was surrounded by four strange looking tall people , but they did not look like one , he had to act fast , he attacked one of the figure which shattered to grounds , he turned to others which were slowly proceeding towards him , he couldn't attack three at once he jumped to his right where the last figure had disappeared , he tsaw as the three figures collided together and a horrible shriek erupted as they shattered to ground , he placed his hand to his ear forgetting that he was supposed to be in middle of duel .
" DURO " said a voice and Dmitri hardened as a rock.
The smoke was clearing around Yuri and he was surrounded by what seemed to be a pile of goblets ,plates , glasses and other items , he tried to move forward but the moment his leg hit the goblets they started multiplying , he freaked and move backwards hitting more objects which multiplied , he fell on ground . " Stupefy " he said and the multiplying stopped but it was late he was half submerged in them , he saw ahead that there was open space where the smoke was thinning slowly he moved ahead , stupefying each time the objects multiply by the time he reached the open space he had forgot that he was supposed to be dueling , as he bend slightly to catch his breath after moving through thick layers of oddly shaped objects and shouting stupefying jinx , before he could straighten to look around he heard voices.
"Expelliarmus " a voice said.
" Melofors" a boy said
" Hey , that was wrong "
" But it was fun "
CHEERS and FIRECRACKERS erupted from all around as everyone got on their feet and cheered for the winners.