Chapter 3 - First Day at Hogwarts

The four of them were late down to breakfast the next morning. The sugar and adrenaline high of the night had taken its toll and they were tired, lethargic and, in Sirius' case, more than a little irritable.

James couldn't understand it. His new friend had been energetic and cheerful all of yesterday but this morning it was as if all his enthusiasm had been replaced with a dark cloud. He'd snapped at Peter for taking too long in the shower and now he was scowling at his breakfast plate and not saying a word to any of them.

"What's got your wand in a knot?" James asked, pulling the plate of scrambled eggs towards him as Remus poured everyone pumpkin juice.

"Nothing to concern yourself with." Sirius said, accepting some toast from the rack Remus offered him.

Well that was helpful.

He cast his mind around for something else to say. He didn't like silences and as Remus and Peter seemed on the quieter side and Sirius clearly wasn't bringing any conversation himself, James supposed it was up to him. "So, what do you reckon we'll learn today then?" He asked the others.

"How to stop asking stupid questions." Sirius said irritably. "McGonagall's right there with the timetables. We'll find out in two minutes."

James put down his fork and frowned at Sirius. "Why are you being such a -"

But before he could attempt to force his friend to tell him what was really going on, he was distracted by the arrival of about a hundred post owls. There were birds of every colour, all flying around the rafters and every so often zooming down to drop their carried letter or package in front of someone. The effect was quite spectacular.

Lily Evans beside him was laughing delightedly as she watched the birds' flights too. James turned to grin at her, hoping she might be willing to bury the hatchet from yesterday, but she gave him a disparaging sort of look and turned her back on him again. Feeling a little ruffled, James took the letter that had arrived for him from his parents and began to read.

It was a wonderful comfort, seeing his mother's tidy handwriting and hearing how his parents' day had been. They wrote that they'd felt very sad saying goodbye to him but that they'd had a lovely day out in London and their house elf Ethel had cooked them a special dinner to cheer them up. The house felt quiet without him, but she and his dad were so proud of him for being sorted into Gryffindor and his dad had already bought him a scarf in his new house colours. James grinned, wondering how his father had managed that if they'd only just got the news last night.

He tucked the letter in his pocket and looked up at his friends. Remus and Peter were still reading the letters they'd had from home with a smile but Sirius, James noticed, looked a little sick.

"What's up?" James asked and he was surprised by the fear in his friend's grey eyes as he looked back at him.

"Nothing." Sirius said quickly, tearing his letter into little pieces and scattering them on the floor. "Just... well, at least she didn't send a howler, eh?" And he grinned awkwardly.

James didn't understand. Why would Sirius' mother (if that's who he'd been referring to) send her son a screaming letter on his first day of school? What kind of horrible mother would do that? He doubted his mum would send him something like that even if he'd blown up McGonagall's office (which he'd never do of course). He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice the deputy headmistress, who had arrived at their table and was handing out timetables.

"Thanks mum," he said without thinking as he took the parchment from her. And then he looked up, his eyes met hers, and he'd have given anything in the world (including his broomstick) to have melted into a puddle and vanished through the cracks of the floor. "I mean thanks, Professor." He amended weakly, but of course it was already too late. The damage was done.

Sirius and Peter roared with laughter and he thought he saw McGonagall smile a little too. "You're welcome, Potter." She said. "You've got transfiguration first thing so make sure you're not late." She frowned at Sirius and Peter before moving off to hand out timetables to the girls.

"Oh shut up." James said, throwing his toast at Sirius who was almost crying with laughter now, but he was grinning. His momentary embarrassment had at least done some good. Sirius was his usual cheerful self again.

Though his friends teased him all the way to transfiguration ("I wonder what 'mum' is going to teach us today?") James bore it good naturedly. He knew a bit of banter came with having friends. He didn't mind it.

They sat at the back in the classroom, which they considered to be the best place for a whispered conversation and, quite frankly, James didn't want to be anywhere near his teacher right now.

McGonagall set them up transfiguring matchsticks into needles, a task James found ridiculously easy as his wand was good for transfiguration and he seemed to have a natural instinct for the spellwork. He successfully achieved the spell on the second attempt and worked his way through the entire box of matches in the first ten minutes, making a little silver wall in the upside of his wooden desk with them before Peter asked for his help.

After transfiguration they had defence against the dark arts, taught by an old but spritely witch called Professor Richards. She had them practicing simple jinxes and hexes on one other with their partner attempting to block the unfriendly spells. "Excellent." Sirius said enthusiastically. "I've always wanted to learn how to defend myself properly. Now my cousin Bellatrix won't be able to try out any of her horrible new curses on me."

Wondering again what on earth was wrong with his new friend's family, James grinned back. "Well I've always wanted to hex Snivellus." He said, spotting the greasy-haired boy from the train the other day, standing awkwardly next to Lily Evans. James wondered how he'd look with tap-dancing feet and twitching ears.

As it turned out, very funny indeed. The pair of them laughed themselves silly at the sight of the boy, looking wildly around the room as he sought the source of his predicament. "Looking good, Snivelly!" Sirius called, doubled over with mirth and James gave him the thumbs up.

Professor Richard quickly restored Snape's ears and feet to normal and took ten house points from Gryffindor. Someone else who hadn't found their joke funny caught up with them on their way to lunch.

"James Potter, I want a word with you." Lily Evans said, blocking their path and causing Sirius and Peter to groan.

"What?" James said, a little taken aback. Lily was glaring at him so ferociously it was like staring into two bright green suns.

"You're a beast." She told him. "What did you do that to poor Sev for?"

Who the ruddy hell was Sev?! Oh, she meant Snivellus.

"Oh Evans, it's no big deal!" He laughed. "It was only Snivellus and it was only a joke."

"It might have been funny to you, James Potter, but it wasn't funny to Sev. You hurt his feelings." She folded her arms crossly over her chest and glared at him.

"Ooh, his feelings." Sirius mocked in a high pitched, nasal voice and Peter laughed.

"Yes, his feelings." Lily snapped, turning to face him now instead. "And if you don't care about those you're as big a bully as he is!" She gestured furiously at James.

"Wait a minute!" James said, feeling stung. He wasn't a bully. But Lily seemed to have exhausted her patience with him. She gave him one last withering glare then turned on her heel and marched back over to her friends.

James gaped after her, feeling a bit like he'd just been clubbed over the head with something heavy.

He turned back to his friends. "What's her problem?!" He demanded.

"Dunno mate, don't let it get to you." Sirius said casually.

"But I don't get it! Didn't she see the bloke? How was that not funny?!"

Sirius shrugged.

He kept up his angry self-justification all throughout lunch, by the end of which he was beginning to suspect all three of his new friends were thoroughly sick of him. He did his best to forget about Lily in charms, though it was hard when she was sitting right in front of him, her feather floating perfectly in the air as Professor Flitwick had instructed. He considered trying to force her to talk to him and make her see he was really a good person but, if he was honest with himself, she scared him a little.

After charms they had potions, for which they needed to descend to the dungeons where, appropriately to James' mind, the Slytherins lived.

"Ah, the sour scent of Slytherin." He said, sniffing the air in imitation of a basset hound. "Blimey, they even look different to us." He added as a group of students in Slytherin colours billowed past, their noses in the air.

"It's all the inbreeding." Sirius told him sagely. "Seriously, look it up. They're not so much family trees as family sticks."

"Yours included?" James said, wondering if his new friend would be prepared to joke about his family so soon after his controversial sorting.

"Especially mine." Sirius said emphatically. "That's why they're always so angry. Can you imagine marrying your cousin? I can't think of anything worse."

"Not an option for me. I don't have any."

"You lucky beggar. Take one of mine."

"I think Pete's already called shotgun, mate." James grinned.

They arrived in the potions classroom to find Professor Slughorn perched on Roma Lestrange of Slytherin's desk like a toad on a lily pad, beaming at her as though she were a particularly juice fly. Roma for her part looked a little creeped out.

"Ah!" He cried when he noticed James and the others. "Is that all of us? Well let's make a start of it then." And, pushing himself off the desk with some effort, he plodded to the front of the class and began to unfurl his register at leisure.

Registration took twice as long in potions as Slughorn kept stopping on names he recognised. He stopped on Sirius' and looked up to see him seated beside James in his Gryffindor colours. "You should be in my house!" He cried, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

"Sorry, sir. It was nothing personal." Sirius said and James snorted into his fist.

"Well, this is highly irregular!" Slughorn blustered. "What did your parents make of it, may I ask?"

"They were delighted, sir." Sirius said and James wondered if anyone else caught the sarcasm.

Slughorn frowned at Sirius as though he had tricked him in some way then gave a "hmpf" and went back to his register.

Though he set them up working on a potion to cure boils, he didn't seem interested in doing any actual teaching. He wandered up and down the aisle, stopping to pause at various students' desks, but not, as James might have expected, to peer into their cauldron. He simply seemed to want to chat.

"Fat walrus en route." Sirius muttered to James, ducking his head and chopping his shrivelfig with renewed vigour as Slughorn made his slow plodding way towards their table.

"Ah, James Potter!" He cried, finally reaching his destination and settling his large bottom down on the edge of James' desk. "Last time I saw you you weren't yet potty trained."

"That's lovely sir." James said, trying to ignore Sirius who was shaking with silent laughter beside him.

"How is dear Monty? Is he still inventing? I must say Sleekeazy's was quite the most wonderful creation and I'm sure I detected the teensiest bit of lavender in there too. I told all my friends I told 'em, 'that Monty Potter. He was in my class in potions NEWT. I wondered when he'd use that lavender trick the two of us came up with.'"

James smiled. "I'm afraid he never mentions you, sir." He said, which wasn't completely true. His father had told James that Slughorn was a fat, lazy snob who liked to take credit for other people's inventions without actually doing any of the work himself. But James wouldn't let it affect his judgment.

Slughorn looked almost as put out as when he'd found out Sirius was in Gryffindor. "And what about you, Sirius?" He said, causing the other boy to look up in alarm. "I heard your grandfather Arcturus has been nominated for an Order of Merlin. What an honour that must be for your family. Tell me, do you see much of your grandfather Arcturus?"

"Unfortunately yes, sir."

Slughorn it seemed had no response for this either.

"Nosy prat." Sirius said after the lesson. "Not a very good teacher either, is he?"

He'd kept them talking for so long he hadn't even registered the bell for the end of class. There had been such a sudden flurry of activity to leave that none of them had the chance to test their potions or bottle up any samples. Slughorn was left with the mess, which he vanished with a wave of his wand, and the students hurriedly put their cauldrons back over to the side (they couldn't very well carry them round the castle with them!) before leaving the classroom.

That night at dinner, James and Sirius chatted happily to everyone and anyone about their first day in the castle, and soon attracted the attention of a pair of red-haired twins called Gideon and Fabian Prewett who, seeming to sense kindred spirits, came over to join them.

"We couldn't help overhearing your very excellent conversation and wanted to offer some pearls of wisdom from our several years' professional rule-breaking." Gideon said, sliding himself onto the bench.

"Hogwarts is fun but it can be desperately dull too." Fabian agreed. "You want to be on the right side of it."

"The fun side." Gideon clarified. "You want to have as much fun as possible."

"And we think we can help." Fabian said, grinning.

"That's brilliant!" James told Gideon as he explained to him and the others about the secret passageway they'd discovered to get out of the castle.

"There's quite a few shortcuts too." Fabian said. "You want to look out for the one behind a tapestry on the first floor, but mind out for the trick step!"

"And there's a brilliant room opposite a portrait of some ballet-dancing trolls on the seventh floor corridor."

James pulled out a scrap of paper he'd used in charms and started jotting everything the twins told him down. He wanted to make sure he remembered everything.

Gideon laughed. "I like your enthusiasm. Just be careful McGonagall doesn't catch you."

"Yeah, she doesn't exactly share our sense of humour." Fabian agreed.

"What was it she said to us last term?" Gideon asked.

"We were 'the worse troublemakers she's had the misfortune to teach'. Or words to that effect." Fabian answered. "But maybe you'll give us a run for a money, eh?"

James promised them that he would.

"So, shall we do it?" He asked his friends later that night in the dormitory.

"Can you be more specific?" Sirius asked from his place on his bed where he was idly flicking through one of James' magazines.

"Sorry." James said. "Will you come and explore the castle with me tonight, pretty please?"

Sirius grinned. "I'm in." He looked at his watch. "It's past curfew though."

"Brilliant!" James said, choosing to ignore this second piece of information. He turned to the others. "Remus? Peter?"

Remus looked uncomfortable. "Sirius is right, it is late. Can't we go another time?"

"Absolutely not!" James cried, leaping onto his bed and gripping the other boy by the shoulders. "Remus!" He pleaded. "Now is the perfect time to explore! Think of all those secret passageways just dying to be found and here we are tucked up in bed like good little boys, I can't bear it!"

"I hate to admit it, but Potter's right." Sirius said, getting to his feet and pulling on his cloak. "I mean, how are we meant to find any secret passageways when the castle's full of interfering students? No, there's nothing else for it. We go tonight."

James grinned and went to stand beside him. "Peter, you in?"

Peter looked quickly at Remus and then shook his head. "I'm staying here." He said stoutly. "You can both risk your necks if you want but I won't have McGonagall sending any letters home in my first week."

"She won't do that." Sirius said a little quickly.

"I don't care if she does." James said, grabbing his own cloak. "My dad would be disappointed if I didn't go exploring in my first week. Well you two can be a bore if you want but when we find a secret passageway to Hogsmeade and bring back sweets from Honeydukes we won't share." And ignoring the hurt look on Peter's face, the pair of them left the dormitory.

The castle was, as James had hoped, wonderfully deserted. The only sound they heard was their footsteps as they wandered along the dark stone halls with the dimly flickering wall lamps. They found several of the shortcuts the twins had told them about but couldn't see what was so special about the statue of the one-eyed witch. Perhaps there was something the twins had forgotten to tell them about it.

A number of the portraits stopped to chat as they passed. One, a knight called Sir Cadogan, commended them for their courage and adventurous spirits. Another, a very old man called Rudolph Fletcher, proceeded to lecture them on the castle and the headmasters and headmistresses who had occupied it previously, to which they listened as politely as they could.

"Before Dumbledore there was Armando Dippet." He told them reminiscently. "He insisted all staff and students leave the castle for the holidays. That did get people's backs up. Then before him there was Phineas Nigellus Black… Most unpopular headmaster Hogwarts has ever had. He was there in my time. Cruel man…"

"Any relation?" James asked Sirius.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "What do you think?"

They wandered round for a while longer and upset a few more sleeping portraits with the lights of their wands before they decided they should probably call it a night and headed back in the direction of Gryffindor tower. They'd almost made it to the corridor with the portrait of the fat lady when their path was blocked by a scruffy looking grey cat.

"Hello!" James cried, dropping to his knees and reaching out to stroke the animal. James loved cats. They had one at home, a ginger tom called Percy. The Potters had owned ginger toms called Percy since James' grandfather had come up with the tradition last century. Theirs was now the seventh of its kind.

"Oi!"

James jumped up and spun at once in the direction of the noise. There, standing a few feet away, was a short man with a crooked back, yellowing teeth and long, straggly hair. James recognised him instantly as the caretaker, Argus Filch, famous for hating students.

"Awfully late for you boys to be out of your beds." Filch leered at them, hobbling forwards and grabbing hold of Sirius by the ear. "You look like you could both be first years too. The headmaster will not be happy to hear about this..." The delight in his voice was unmistakable.

James felt suddenly panicked. This man wouldn't really take them to Dumbledore would he?!

"People say he's softer than Dippet, but it's all lies." Filch continued with an unpleasant smile, taking hold of James now too. "He's got a real dark side and when I take you to him, you filthy little whelps, and tell him what you've been up to, he won't hold back. You'll be begging for mercy before too long."

"That's a lie!" James said, pulling free of the man's grip and glaring up at him. "Dumbledore wouldn't hurt us. And you're not even a teacher, you're a caretaker."

He hadn't said just a caretaker. His parents had taught him better manners than that. Though maybe in this man's case they might have forgiven the rudeness.

"You're just a caretaker?!" Sirius said, breaking free too and staring up at the man in delighted disbelief. "Well we don't have to do what you say. Come on, James." And he grabbed James by the arm and they broke off running.

They reached the portrait of the fat lady within minutes. "Hogsmeade high street!" James panted, which he knew to be the password to enter.

Though the fat lady frowned at them, she reluctantly swung inwards.

Once inside the common room with the door closed behind them, they collapsed to the floor. James thought he could just about hear the sound of Filch's footsteps lumbering in the distance.

He turned to Sirius who had turned to him and they couldn't help themselves. They burst out laughing.

They laughed for so long and so hard that they didn't notice the portrait door had swung quietly open behind them.

"Good riddance." Sirius said, sitting up at last and wiping his eyes. "He'll be blundering along that hallway 'til morning, the stupid, sneaking squib."

"Ahem."

They both jumped and looked up. It was Professor McGonagall. And she was not laughing.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Black, for insulting language and disrespect towards a member of staff." She said. "Because gentlemen, for your information, Mr Filch is a member of staff and as such he has a right to respect from everyone in this castle, including, I am furious I have need to tell you, two disobedient little schoolboys."

James looked down at the carpet and from Sirius' uncomfortable shifting beside him he could tell his friend was feeling the heat too, but McGonagall wasn't finished with them yet.

"How dare you go marauding around the castle out of hours and talk to a member of staff in the way you have? I am giving you both detention and if the punishment alone doesn't do it then perhaps the shame of knowing you are the first two to receive one so early into your school careers will. Now, is there anything you wish to say for yourselves?!"

James looked up at her at last but then shook his head and quickly looked back down again.

"What does marauding mean?" Sirius said and James grinned in spite of himself. It was exactly what he'd been thinking.

Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared as she turned to Sirius. "That, Mr Black, is hardly the point. Do you have anything to say for the fact that you were out of bed after hours is what I meant!"

Sirius shook his head too. "No, ma'am."

"Very well. I shall see you both tomorrow. Goodnight, gentlemen." And she turned and left.

James turned to Sirius just as Sirius turned to James. "Marauding." They said at the same time.

"It sounds pretty cool." James said.

"It sounds brilliant." Sirius agreed.

"So what does it mean?"

"Obviously being brilliant enough to set school records for exploring the castle."

"Er, I think she said a record for getting detention so early in our school careers."

"Isn't it the same thing?"

"Only if you get caught."

"Which we won't next time."

They were quiet for a while and then James spoke again. "How about the marauders?"

"What for?"

James flushed a little. "Well, y'know... For us." He said awkwardly. "Y'know... like a group name."

Sirius looked at him and James suddenly wanted to tell him to forget the whole thing. Maybe Sirius didn't want to be in a group with him. Maybe, like his family, he would have rather been in Slytherin with Mulciber and Avery, who he seemed to already know. "It's stupid. Forget it." He said quickly.

But Sirius was grinning at him with such genuine enthusiasm that James couldn't help but grin back. "I think it's brilliant." He said.

...

A/N: For anyone who's interested, I took the idea of the Potters having a ginger cat from Winston Churchill, who had a recurring ginger tom named Jock. When he left his country home (Chartwell) to the National Trust he included a stipulation that there was to always be one living there. The current Jock is also the 7th of his kind!