CHAPTER ELEVEN: Whomping Willow Whacking
“Come on, Sirius, we’ve got to get changed for Quidditch practice,” James said as the Gryffindors strolled idly away from the Herbology greenhouses one lazy Tuesday afternoon.
“Nah, I think I’ll skive off this afternoon. I don’t really feel like going,” Sirius said, stretching his arms high over his head and plopping down in the grass overlooking the lake.
“Didn’t you skip practice last Thursday?” Gwendolyn asked as she took a seat next to him.
“Yeah, what of it?” he asked, slightly agitated.
“Nothing, mate! Just curious,” she replied, and leaned back to lie down in the grass.
James sighed but didn’t say anything. What Sirius didn’t know was that their captain, Jack Daltrey, had been less than pleased by Sirius’s absence on Thursday, and if he missed again tonight, Daltrey would probably take it out on James. But when Sirius got in moods like this, there was nothing and no one that could convince him otherwise.
As James was pondering these things, he caught Remus’s eyes. Remus wore an expression that seemed to ask, “Are you really going to let him skip?” To Remus, it didn’t seem right for Sirius to just skip practice because he didn’t feel like it, while he couldn’t even try out for anything because of his “condition.”
“Fine, Sirius, but if you get kicked off the team, it’s your fault,” James said, trying to be casual, but looking a little worked up.
Sirius seemed to get the message. He rolled over and groaned. “Fine, James, I won’t skip. But practice isn’t for another half an hour; let’s just stay here for a bit.” James looked at his watch and at the castle, but his friend noticed this hesitation. “Come on, man! Look, the Hufflepuffs are coming up from the greenhouses. I bet they’ll try to play that ridiculous game with the Whomping Willow again. Fancy a try?”
“Oh, Sirius, you’ve got to be joking!” Marlene said.
All present groaned. Marlene was raising an objection”something she was quite fond of doing.
“And what makes you say that, Marly?” he asked lazily, making it noticeably clear he didn’t care too much at all.
“Because that is the most dangerous game I can possibly think of!” she responded, looking at the menacing branches of the tree with a worried expression on her face.
“See, that’s where you’re wrong, Marlene,” James said, apparently deciding to give up his quest for the castle and join Sirius on the grass. “I was reading about these two Scottish wizards who tried to invent a game like polo, except they rode on top of manticores instead of horses. That’s a bit more dangerous than Whomping Willow Whacking, wouldn’t you say?”
Marlene looked like she was about to protest, probably to point out”quite correctly”that playing polo atop manticores would be impossible. But Lily spoke before she could.
“OK, what exactly is Whomping Willow Whacking? I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you all play before.”
“It is an incredibly stupid and pointless game, and someone is going to get hurt,” Remus said, hardly glancing up from the Herbology textbook he had pulled out, though it was easy to see that he looked genuinely worried underneath his nonchalant exterior.
“Well, that’s what Grandfather Lupin here thinks,” Sirius said, grinning his brightest at Lily. “For the rest of us, Whomping Willow Whacking involves running up close to that blasted tree over there and trying to touch the stem before its bloody branches bloody us.”
There was a long pause where no one said anything. Sirius held his arms aloft as if he had just finished some sort of grand demonstration and now expected Lily’s applause. James was also staring intently at Lily, waiting for her reaction. Remus had temporarily abandoned his homework and was just shaking his head ruefully.
After a long moment, she spoke. “Yeah, I’m going to agree with Remus and Marlene on this one. Stupidest game on the planet. Congratulations, boys, you’ve outdone yourself.” She sat down next to Remus and fished her own Herbology textbook out of her bag.
“Oh come on, Lily!” James pleaded. “Why else would they have planted that giant tree except for our amusement? It’s not actually going to hurt someone!”
“Famous last words, mate,” said Sirius, though he was now eyeing the tree with palpable excitement. “Man, we can take them,” he growled upon seeing a group of Hufflepuff second-years get dangerously close to the tree’s thrashing branches.
“Totally. Let’s go.” James said, hopping to his feet. Sirius quickly followed suit, and gradually the whole gang grudgingly moved closer to the action.
“See, Fin MacFusty is pretty quick”he might actually have a shot.” Sirius was strategizing, as usual. “But Davey Gudgeon is slower than my dead grandmother. He doesn’t stand a chance.”
“Don’t know why he even bothers,” James agreed.
“I don’t know why you even bother,” said Remus, a bit under his breath. Sirius and James ignored him, but Lily didn’t.
As the two boys walked closer to the tree and the rest of the Gryffindors established the peanut gallery, Lily turned to Remus. “Why does it upset you so much? I mean, it’s not like they haven’t done things just as stupid, and you never seemed to mind before!”
Remus shifted uncomfortably. How could he explain his discomfort without giving away his secret? The tree was there to protect him, and if the others found out about the secret passage at the base of its trunk... Well, it would bring up too many questions, among other things.
“This is different, Lily. It’s one thing to run around the castle and set off Dungbombs and mess with the suits of armor. But this tree... I don’t know why it’s here,” he said, his eyes darting to the ground lest she saw the lies evident there, “but it’s not for our enjoyment, I’m pretty sure. That’s all.”
“That’s a good reason,” she agreed. “But I think our friends would disagree.”
Sure enough, Sirius and James were now ducking in and out of the whipping branches, taunting Davey and Fin as the four of them all tried valiantly to touch the trunk.
Remus started to sweat. Though he knew it was hard to see the big hole at the base of the trunk when one was busy dodging its branches, he also knew that Sirius and James were incredibly observant, and always on the lookout for new secret stuff.
Remus lifted his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his brow and returned to his Herbology homework. He cleared his throat and squeaked, “Um, Lily? Did you get the third place where Mandrakes are most commonly found? I think I only heard the first two.”
“Yeah, let me grab my notes,” Lily said, rifling through her bag.
Remus kept stealing glances at the Whomping Willow Whackers, though it looked like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Yet. A few more Hufflepuff boys had joined in the game, but so far nobody had touched the trunk. Yet. Remus’s heart was palpitating, but he hadn’t cracked under the pressure. Yet.
Peter was sitting next to Remus and was practically twitching with excitement. He had taken a particularly bad blow to the back during an earlier game, and ever since had been a little hesitant to join in the “fun.” But he still rolled and ducked along with Sirius and James, even though he was twenty feet from the tree.
“I think Sirius is going to get it this time,” Peter said, his eyes narrowed. “He keeps doing that sort of somersault thing. He’ll probably hit it with his leg.”
Remus just nodded and muttered a noncommittal grunt. With his luck, Sirius would probably somersault right through the secret passage, end up in the Shrieking Shack, and then... Remus shuddered. He was only a day away from transformation. If Sirius or James found the secret passage, the results could”would”be disastrous.
“Hey Remus, are you OK?” Gwendolyn’s voice drifted in from somewhere next to him. “You look really pale.”
He shook his head to clear his thoughts. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just... uh... thinking.” But Gwendolyn didn’t have time to respond before Remus spoke again. “Oh no,” he said quietly, and then again louder. “Oh no!”
“What?” asked Peter in a worried squeak, thinking perhaps that Sirius or James had been hurt.
“What is Davey doing with that stick?” Remus asked, paranoia creeping in quickly. If Davey somehow found the knot that stopped the tree’s branches, well that would really be it.
Remus tried to shake it off. There was no way that Davey could get lucky enough to find that knot. It was a tiny knot on a giant tree, and Davey was just flailing the stick about haphazardly. The odds were overwhelmingly against him hitting just the right spot. Stars, planets, the universe would have to align in order for Davey to hit the knot.
“Yeah, that’s against the rules!” Peter exclaimed, mistaking Remus’s anxiety for annoyance. “You have to touch the tree with your body!” Peter hopped to his feet and was jogging to the tree, most likely to warn James and Sirius that they had a cheater in their midst.
“Hey, why has Sirius stopped? What is he staring at? If he doesn’t keep moving, he’s going to get whacked!” Gwendolyn exclaimed, her eyes focused quizzically on Sirius who did indeed seem to be peering at the base of the tree.
What happened next happened in the briefest of moments. Remus leapt to his feet and sprinted toward Sirius. James moved to join Sirius in examining the tree and Peter was not far behind, all three ducking and twisting to avoid the branches. Sirius and James looked at each other and waved Remus over. At that precise moment, however, Davey Gudgeon”who was still playing the game”took a blow straight to the face. The branch threw him backwards and he stumbled a few feet, only to be caught by another branch that shoved him back toward the trunk. He fell onto his stick, and”against all odds, against all hopes, against all of Remus’s prayers”pressed the knot, then crumpled to the ground. The Whomping Willow shuddered to a halt. Not even the breeze disturbed its leaves and branches.
Remus panicked as silence settled over the scene, everyone trying to figure out what had just happened. Then Davey’s piercing scream ruptured the silence. Remus reached for Sirius and James, barely registering that they had, in fact, found the entrance to the tunnel. “Get Davey out from underneath the tree!” he shouted at them. “Fin, get away from the branches!” he shouted to Fin MacFusty and the group of Hufflepuff boys who just stood, eyes agog. “Peter, get back over there!” he said to Peter who was looking up at the still branches with trepidation. “And somebody go get Madam Pomfrey!” he shouted to no one in particular.
There was another long moment where nobody did anything. Everyone was too overwhelmed by the many extreme oddities of the situation: the Whomping Willow wasn’t Whomping, Remus Lupin was shouting orders, and Sirius Black and James Potter were standing stock-still and silent.
Remus just blinked. “GO!” he shouted, and everyone sprang to life. While Sirius and James dragged the bleeding Davey out of the reach of the tree and Marlene and Gwendolyn bolted to the castle, Remus used the stick to press the knot, and the tree started thrashing again. Hoping nobody would connect the two actions, Remus decided to cover his tracks by yelling, “It started moving again! Everybody get away!”
He crouched low and put his hands over his head, then stumbled as fast as he could to Davey and the rest of the boys to survey the damage. It was bad. The first branch had cut a huge gash across Davey’s face, and presumably over one of his eyes as well, as he clutched both hands over it and writhed in pain.
Within minutes, though, the girls had returned with Madam Pomfrey. Marlene was white in the face and looked about ready to faint. Gwendolyn stood by Lily and Peter, all three visibly concerned. Madam Pomfrey sprang into action. “Out of the way! Out of the way, you silly, stupid boys!” There was a fury in her face that made even Sirius recoil faster than lightning.
“I told Professor Dumbledore this tree would be nothing but trouble. But did he listen?” She was muttering to herself as she examined Davey’s cuts and bruises. “Too dangerous, I said. There are other ways...” she trailed off, and looked Remus directly in the face.
He stepped backwards involuntarily. Of course Madam Pomfrey knew the reason for the tree’s presence, knew the reason was him. But it wasn’t his fault that Davey was now bleeding profusely, was it?
Madam Pomfrey seemed to realize this, or at least paid attention to the pleading look in Remus’s eyes. She sent him a tight-lipped smile of reassurance, though her nostrils flared in frustration. She then stood to conjure a stretcher and carry Davey back up toward the castle.
As he and the stretcher floated independently up the hill, Madam Pomfrey turned around to the group of students, wagging her finger at them all. “See? See, you harebrained children, what playing under this tree does to you? Do it again, and we’ll see how apt I am to treat your cuts and gashes, hmm?” And with a ruffle of her skirt, she turned and sprinted after the stretcher.
Nobody spoke. They were all too busy replaying the events of the last five minutes in their minds. Finally, Fin MacFusty turned to Remus, his face wan and white. “Thanks for taking charge back there, mate. You really helped.”
“No problem. I just really hate this tree,” Remus said and managed a small smile, though he was still having trouble steadying his breathing. “If you go visit him, find us and give an update, all right?”
“Sure, no problem,” Fin said, turning with his gang to head to the castle. “And thanks again, really.”
The Gryffindors eyed each other and, without a word, followed the Hufflepuffs back up the hill, occasionally casting glances over their shoulders to see if the Whomping Willow had stopped moving again. Only Remus looked straight ahead.
“She’s right, you know,” whispered Marlene. “Madam Pomfrey. You really shouldn’t””
Mercifully, Gwendolyn interrupted. “Marlene, now is not the time, OK? Let’s just not talk about this tree for a while.”
Marlene nodded and cast her eyes at the ground. No one else broke the silence until they saw the Quidditch pitch off in the distance.
“Gwen, are you coming to watch practice?” Sirius asked.
“Yeah, think so,” she replied. “Lily? Remus? Peter? Want to go watch?”
“Sure,” Lily said, but Remus shook his head, and Peter did not respond.
“I’m not really in the mood right now,” Remus said. Feeling like he was being perhaps a tad too morose, however, he added, “but maybe I’ll catch the tail end?”
Gwendolyn nodded and the rest of the journey to Gryffindor Tower passed in silence.
***
“Remus, you’ve got to believe us. There was a giant hole at the base of that tree. I saw it, and Sirius did, too!”
James and Sirius were both nodding feverishly as they stripped off their school robes and changed into more appropriate Quidditch-playing togs.
Remus hesitated. “I don’t know, guys. I mean, you only saw it for a second, right? Before Davey got hit?”
“Yeah, but when the tree stopped moving we got a real good look at it,” Sirius said, his eyes practically aglow at the thought of a potential new passage.
“And what was that all about anyway? I’ve never seen the Whomping Willow stop moving when it has enemies in its path!” cried James. “What’s next? Will the world stop turning? Will Snivelly Snape take a bath?”
Sirius let out a hearty guffaw and clapped James on the back. Peter, however, though he usually laughed at anything the boys said, remained quiet. This did not go without notice.
“Oh come on, Pete,” James said, turning to his mousy friend. “Don’t tell me that you and Janus are becoming friends with Snivelly in addition to all those other Slytherin wankers!”
It was a frequent point of contestation between Sirius, James, and Peter that Peter at times associated with the fifth Gryffindor, Janus Killeffer, and his friends in Slytherin House. Remus thought there was nothing wrong with a little inter-House socialization, but the other two were not easy to convince.
“No!” Peter squeaked defensively. “He’s still a slimy git.”
“Then laugh at the man’s joke, for Merlin’s sake!” Sirius said with a smile, though he was probably only half-kidding.
“Sorry, James, I guess I didn’t hear you right,” Peter said as his defense, and averted his eyes.
James must have bought the excuse, though, because he grabbed his Nimbus 1001 and headed for the door, Sirius close behind. “Well, you’ll get it next time. Come on down to the pitch with us!”
“Actually, I think I’m going to stay up here. I’ve got a bit of reading to catch up on,” Peter said, again not meeting James’s eyes.
“Not laughing at jokes and skipping Quidditch practice to read?” Sirius asked, a grin playing at the corners of his mouth. “Petey, have you taken a page out of Remus’s Boring Book?”
This time, Peter laughed, although Remus thought it sounded a bit too forced.
But Sirius bought it. “Oh, there’s our boy,” he said. “See you two for dinner later, then?”
They both nodded, and the Quidditch players headed down the staircase.
“Something bothering you, Peter?” Remus asked as he pulled out some homework and a fresh quill. “It’s really not like you to miss Quidditch practice.”
“I know what you did,” Peter responded in a voice not much louder than a whisper.
“What? What are you talking about?” Remus replied, trying to play it cool, but feeling his heart speed up.
“Earlier. At the Whomping Willow. When Davey fell onto the stick, it stopped the tree. And later, you hit the tree with the same stick, and it started again. I saw it.”
If Remus ever cursed, he would have. He was faced with momentary indecision: to lie and pretend that he knew nothing about the Willow, or to confess and tell Peter about the secret knot. Well, he had already lied so much. Another one couldn’t hurt...
“Uh, Pete, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Real convincing, Remus, he thought to himself.
“Remus, I’m not stupid, even though I may seem to be. I saw you hit the tree with that stick, and a split-second later, it started moving.”
Peter looked Remus directly in the face until Remus looked away. It was one thing to fudge the truth a little with Sirius and James, but it was incredibly hard to lie to Peter. He had this quality that just evoked trustworthiness. Something about him made Remus feel safe spilling his secrets.
“Look,” Peter continued, “I don’t know how you know about starting and stopping the tree, or why, but I promise I won’t tell Sirius and James if you don’t want me to. Just don’t lie to me!”
Remus sighed. “I’m sorry, Peter. You’re right: I did start the Willow. It’s just... I don’t really know how I knew to do it, but I did.” Well, that was a lie. But at least he was sort of telling the truth... “I just knew that the tree might start moving again, and I wanted to make sure everyone got out of the way and started paying attention to Davey, and not to whatever ridiculous burrow Sirius and James were looking at. So I just grabbed the stick and pointed it at the tree!”
“Wow,” Peter said in awe. “That was really smart of you. I wish I had thought to do something like that. I just stood by the side like a dummy.”
“Peter, you were farther away from the tree than I was. And it wasn’t smart, it was pretty stupid. One of us could have gotten really hurt, like Davey.”
“But we didn’t,” he countered.
“Yeah, well let’s just not talk about the stupid tree anymore. I think we should stay far away from it from now on.”
“Me too,” Peter said, nodding his head. He looked down at his hands, then back up a moment later. “But do you think you could stop its branches again? With the stick and all?”
“Probably not,” Remus said, confused by the line of questioning. “Why?”
“Well, it’s just that Sirius and James kept talking about that secret passage that they saw, and I was thinking that maybe you and I could go down there now while they’re gone, and we could find it ourselves! If you could stop the tree, we’d have a really easy time finding it. And then when they got back from practice, they’d be so excited, and we could add it to The List and maybe explore it later?” Peter’s round face was lit up in anticipation.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Remus said as Peter’s face fell. “I mean, I looked where they were pointing, and I didn’t see anything but a gap in the roots. Probably just an animal’s hole. Plus, I really don’t think I could stop the tree from moving again. And I honestly just don’t want to go anywhere near it, not after what happened to Davey. He almost lost an eye!”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Would have been cool if it had been a secret passage, though, wouldn’t it?” Peter smiled.
Remus smiled, too, though it was more involuntary than genuine. If only you knew, he thought.
A long minute of silence passed as the two boys pondered the day’s events further. It pained Remus to deny Peter such a good chance to impress Sirius and James, but he really couldn’t risk it. Risk their lives. Peter would find another opportunity to show the boys what he was made of.
“OK, I’m going to head down to watch the Quidditch practice. You coming?” Peter asked a moment later as he headed for the door.
“Yeah, I’ll come down in a bit. I just want to finish this homework real quick.”
Peter nodded and bolted downstairs as Remus turned for the umpteenth time to his as-yet-unfinished Herbology worksheet.
The lies were not going to last much longer. He just knew it.
Of Cauldrons and Comrades by LuthAn
Chapter Notes: Hello, hello, dear readers! Sorry for the extended pause between chapters--final exams are no fun. But now, welcome to Chapter 11, where things really start to get interesting for Mr. Lupin. Keep your eyes peeled for the cameo by the infamous Davey Gudgeon, and wonder with Remus about how much longer his secret will last. The chips are beginning to fall... Obligatory beta shout-out: Nielawen rocks! Happy reading!