The pale-green paper folded four times over lay innocently among the school bags and History of Magic notebooks. The note didn’t look threatening nor deserving of the narrowed eyes directed at it by a teenage boy with black hair.
Sirius, first back to the table where his friends sat, snatched it up violently. He ripped it in half twice without opening it. The note was the fourth or fifth “ he wouldn’t deign it enough importance by keeping count “ he’d received over the week from Leila Yaxley. The notes so far had all been alike, with formal requests to meet Leila Yaxley at various places at various times. The librarian, Madam Pince, looked up sharply at the sound of tearing paper; she was as protective of the library material as a mother bear with her cubs. No matter which table you chose, even the ones in the far back as Sirius and his friends had selected, the librarian had purposely arranged it so that she had a perfect view of every student. He hoped, at the least, that Leila or her messenger had witnessed the destruction of the written request because so far he wasn’t doing the greatest job in displaying his disinterest of her.
Sirius swept the pieces of the note into his bag. He’d dispose of it at a later time. If only he could sweep Leila Yaxley out of his life in the same manner. He was convinced his first mistake had been agreeing that first evening to meet her. She had misread his intentions. Sirius wasn’t exactly sure what his own intentions had been, but they certainly hadn’t been to start a relationship with her.
Sirius still remembered that first kiss “ it had been memorable. It took some effort to remind himself that the kiss hadn’t been a sign of affection, but a way to rid himself of her, and of the arranged marriage. At the time, he hadn’t considered the possibility that Leila Yaxley would pursue him. As long as he kept this on the forefront of his mind, Sirius was able to ignore the tug of attraction he still held. After all, he had endured severe punishment from his mother for it. He wasn’t about to undermine what he had accomplished over the summer. If his parents found out he was courting Leila Yaxley or showing an interest in her from Regulus, they would consider it a victory. It was a constant uphill battle rebelling against the will of his parents, which included a proper pure-blood marriage and continuation of the line of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Sirius couldn’t afford to give in on any issue. If he succumbed once, what would stop him from yielding again? It would lead to a downhill spiral. So he would continue destroying Leila’s notes and ignoring her existence until she was the one to give up.
James returned next from the maze of magical books, sprawling out in the chair beside Sirius. And bringing Sirius out of his thoughts of marriage and family responsibility to the present; a six foot essay was due in History of Magic in less than twenty-four hours. James yawned loudly.
“How many Galleons do you think I’d have to pay Remus to get him to write my essay?”
“There are not enough Galleons in the world,” Remus spoke from behind James. Precariously balancing a large stack of thickly bound books that would have put Hogwarts: A History to shame, Remus came round the table, setting them down.
“Agree not to cause trouble for a month and we might have a deal.”
“Really?” James looked hopeful.
“No. I’m a prefect, remember?” Remus said.
“Rubbish, you wouldn’t have written it for me last year either when you didn’t have the ‘I’m-a-prefect’ excuse,” James grumbled as he began leafing through All You Ever Wanted to Know About Cauldron-Making.
Sirius was certain there was nothing about cauldron-making he was the least bit interested in. His topic of the essay wasn’t any more interesting. He had to research quills, including the different feathers and inks used. Though not as exciting as learning about wizard inventions such as broomsticks and wands, at least Remus and Peter’s assigned topic, crystal balls, was better than Sirius’s or James’s.
Peter inched toward their table, no book in hand. He was eyeing Remus’s large stack.
“Er “ Remus-” Peter started hesitantly. “I think you took all the books the library has on crystal balls. Why’d you take so many?”
“I like having a variety of sources, and I didn’t take all of them. You can use mine, if you want,” Remus said.
Peter’s face lit up. “Can I? You’re the best!”
“You’ll write it on your own though, and I’m not going to read it over before you hand it in like I usually do,” Remus stated, handing over the top two books, both dusty and ancient looking.
If Peter heard, it didn’t bother him because he grabbed the books as if they were his life source.
The boys worked quietly and intensely for the next ten minutes.
“James, can I see your notes for a moment?” Sirius asked, breaking the unusual silence. “I need to check something.”
“Where are yours?” James questioned as he rummaged through the items on the table to extract his red notebook.
“In the dormitory.”
“We’re in the library researching for History of Magic and you didn’t think you might need your notes?” Remus asked dryly.
Sirius grinned. “Not when I have you lot.”
“That’s a Galleon for every minute you use my notes, mate,” James interrupted in a business-like manner.
“Send the bill to my father and mother.”
Peter let out a loud laugh that he quickly doused when Madam Pince hushed him.
Sirius, a smile still playing on his lips, quickly located what he needed. James didn’t take very detailed notes and Sirius wanted to make sure he covered the exact four points on quills the teacher would be looking for. He was then momentarily distracted by some scribbling in the margins of James’s notebook.
“What’s this?” Sirius questioned.
“If you’re going to complain about my handwriting, you should have brought your own notes,” James mumbled, his eyes still trained on his own book.
“No. What’s this you’ve written in the margins? Marauders?”
“Oh…” James colored slightly. “I was playing around with a name.”
“For what?” Peter piped. Essays and Peter did not mix, so Peter would grab any form of distraction.
“For us…I was thinking some of those pranks we pulled…well we never received proper recognition.”
“Which is a good thing, James, because when we did receive recognition, that only meant we’d been caught and assigned detention,” Remus stated without looking up.
“I know, but it seems a shame our fellow students aren’t even aware the same group pulled them all.”
James was right. If something were to go wrong in class, a potion exploding or inkwell cracking, the teachers would automatically assume James and/or Sirius had a hand in the destruction. The duo was well-known for class distractions and student hexing in the corridor. They were not well-known as the masterminds behind the brilliant pranks that had surfaced over the past four years, unless they’d been caught in the act. Part of it had been intentional, since they’d varied the targets and the difficulty level of the enchantments so there would be no obvious connection.
James continued, “If an anonymous group “ the Marauders “ could take the credit for it, then students could be speaking about us for years, even after we graduate.”
“Marauders?” Sirius tried the word out on his tongue.
“I like it!” Peter stated.
“Of course you do. Anything out of James’s mind or mouth is gospel to you,” Sirius said harshly.
“You don’t like it?” Peter shot back, his round face flushed. Even though it hadn’t been the politest of comments, Sirius had not been exaggerating. Peter did always agree with whatever James did, said, or suggested.
Sirius didn’t answer and James quickly interrupted with, “It was only an idea…we don’t need to use it…I was bored in class.”
“Do we feel a name for ourselves is necessary?” Sirius asked. It wasn’t that he was adverse to the idea of a name, but he felt the need to question it anyway.
“Why not?” Peter said.
“What about you?” Sirius turned to Remus, who had given up reading. “What does the prefect say?”
“I have a name,” Remus retorted. “And it does have a nice ring to it, but-”
“But what?” James asked with a slight grin. Remus would forever be battling his conscience--loyalty to friends versus prefect duties.
“I’m supposed to be upholding the rules, not be part of a group whose purpose is to wreak havoc on Hogwarts,” Remus explained.
“Then nobody will guess your involvement, your identity is the safest of all us,” Sirius said. “Besides, we need you.”
“You need me?” questioned Remus.
“You ground us,” Sirius reasoned.
“I “I “ w-what?” Remus spluttered, his confusion evident on his face.
“You’ve always stopped us from doing something too crazy or too stupid. Our imaginations can get out of hand sometimes, and you ground us.”
“I suppose I do, but “ oh, never mind. I already know I’ll lose this argument.” Remus held up his hands in exasperation, though he didn’t look very upset.
“Hold on there. We should vote, then,” said James. “This way it’ll be official.”
They all nodded in agreement, even Remus. “All in favor?”
“Aye,” Peter whispered eagerly and intently.
“Aye,” Remus said in an ‘I’m-going-to-regret-this’ tone.
“Aye,” Sirius murmured after a moment.
“Any against?”
Silence greeted that question and Peter giggled.
“That settles it.”
“What about you?” Peter voiced.
“I don’t get a vote, obviously, since I came up with it!”
James took his wand and first tapped each of Sirius’s shoulders lightly. “I dub thee”- he moved on to Remus doing the same motions - “and thee” - next on to Peter- “and thee” - and lastly he held the wand up to his face as one would a sword and said -“the Marauders.”
With that complete, Sirius, James, Remus and Peter glanced around at each other, unsure of what to say and feeling slightly silly at their antics. Quietly they resumed their work “ the crinkling of turned pages, scratching of quills, and soft movement of restless boys repositioning themselves on the hard, wooden chairs. Underneath the silence, each one of them was reveling in their new secret and the thrill of the exclusivity of their group. The sound bond they already shared strengthened again that day in the library. They were now ‘the Marauders’ and very soon that name would be recognized by all students, teachers, staff, and Hogwarts ghosts.
When it came to Potions, Sirius didn’t have to dig far to find reasons to dislike the subject. One, it was a double period, two, it was held in the dungeons where the air was old and musty, and three, the Gryffindors had always shared this class with Slytherin…and the fourth reason had just toddled his way into the room: Professor Horace E. F. Slughorn, the Potions Master.
Professor Slughorn was short in stature, his thick straw-colored hair was beginning to thin, while his walrus-like mustache appeared to be growing thicker with each passing year. Slughorn was dressed in emerald-green, the gold buttons on his waistcoat gleaming in the torch-lit room.
Professor Slughorn was known for collecting students like trophies. If your family was well-connected, Slughorn would lavish you with attention hoping to use it for his own gain. Slughorn had not hid from Sirius his severe disappointment at his sorting, believing as everyone else that all Blacks belonged in Slytherin, of which Slughorn was Head of House. If Sirius acted out in class or forgot a step in a potion concoction, it was always the same shake of the head, tsk of the lips, and the moustache molding into the frown, “ A Black should know better…A Black should be better behaved…a Black should have better self-control…”
Sirius fought back with bitingly sarcastic remarks, but they were never as well received as Lily Evans’s cheeky rebuttals when Slughorn commented she was best fit in Slytherin. Slughorn’s belief they were both Slytherins at heart was probably the only thing Sirius had in common with the red-headed witch.
Slughorn was infatuated with the Muggle-born “ she could neither do nor say anything wrong. It sat wrong with Sirius how Lily’s wittiness and cheekiness was almost a form of entertainment for Slughorn. She was a gifted witch, and the way he’d show her off at the ‘Slug Club’ parties (“She’s a Muggle-born, if you can believe it!”), as if she were a commodity.
“Today, my fifth years, we will be brewing The Draught of Peace. Can anyone tell me the effects of the potion?”
Four hands were raised, one from Gryffindor and three from Slytherin.
“Miss Evans?”
“It calms anxiety and soothes agitation.”
“Excellent! Five points to Gryffindor. This is your first O.W.L. standard potion. Does anyone know the two active ingredients? Ah, Mr. Snape.”
Snape spoke in a bored tone. “Powdered moonstone and hellebore syrup. The syrup from hellebore is very poisonous and should be handled with care.”
“Very good. Five points to Slytherin.”
Snape nodded with a satisfied smirk. Sirius caught Lily Evans giving him an encouraging smile to his answer, which caused Snape’s smirk to enlarge.
“You’ll be working in partners, which I will assign,” finished Slughorn.
The students groaned accordingly even though Slughorn had warned them last class. Slughorn went through the list slowly, for he had to pause constantly to make a comment about this person’s grandfather or that person’s aunt.
Sirius was paired with Mary McDonald “ given the choice she obviously wouldn’t be top on his list, but she was better than any Slytherin. Remus was assigned to work with Anita Knight, who had glared most unbecomingly at Mary McDonald, envious that Sirius was Mary’s partner and not hers. Poor Peter was unlucky enough to work with Jean Gable, a Slytherin. Jean Gable was quiet, not among the pure-blood elite, and had always been unfriendly towards the majority of the student population. And James “ Sirius felt an uncomfortable pang “ would be working with Leila Yaxley.
James was as good as a brother to Sirius, but there were things dealing with his family that Sirius kept to himself. It was half because of embarrassment and half to protect himself, and because he didn’t want pity or sympathy. James knew about the marital arrangement with Leila Yaxley and about the first note she’d sent. The other notes from Leila Yaxley he had kept from his friends. Sirius had a premonition, as James joined Leila, that James would know about it all shortly.
“It isn’t fair Professor Slughorn matched Snape and Lily,” Mary McDonald complained as she took the seat that James had occupied moments ago.
“You would rather work with Snape?” Sirius exclaimed.
“Heaven’s no! But they are the best in class.” Mary paused, looking adoringly at him. “Don’t worry, I’m absolutely thrilled to be partnered with you.”
Sirius didn’t return the sentiments. Mary talked too much, in his opinion. She could also be a bit overbearing, and he still remembered that terrible Hogsmeade date they’d gone on in their third year. It had been his first date with a girl; Mary had been the only third year brave enough to ask him, even though other girls had dreamed of it, and Sirius, in the first thrusts of adolescence, had accepted. If he recalled correctly, she had brazenly and sloppily kissed him on the lips at the end of the date.
“I’ll get the ingredients,” he told her shortly.
Returning to his seat, it was glaringly obvious that Leila Yaxley had some sort of plan. She had moved her stool as close as possible to James and had inclined her head towards him, speaking intently--too intimately, in Sirius’s opinion.
“Potter moving in on your girl?” Mary asked sweetly. Sirius was already on guard; Mary was not known for her sweetness.
“What?” Heat was rising in his face.
“By the looks of it, Potter is getting a bit close with her, and with the plethora of rumors about Leila Yaxley and you…and you did look upset when you glanced over at her.”
She was grasping at straws, hoping he’d reveal something that she could use to fuel the rumors.
“James or anyone else is welcome to her.” Despite his intent to hide the stiffness he felt, it was loud and clear. As he fumbled to light the fire underneath the cauldron it only proved to Mary that he was indeed bothered.
“Oh,” Mary replied. She tugged her dirty blonde hair back into a ponytail. “Over her already? Just another girl to add to your cast-aways?”
He turned to her sharply and she blushed at the intensity of his gaze. Mary McDonald had, since that terrible date, continued to flirt with him and most other decent looking blokes. He’d also heard her speaking about how she’d fallen madly in love with Professor Keenan. As far as he could recall, she had never had a boyfriend. She waited for his reply and dozens of them formed in his mind, each one more hurtful than the next…
“Ah, let’s see. Mr. Black, Miss McDonald, perhaps if you were speaking less you’d be further along on the potion.”
“Sorry, Professor,” Mary said, dutifully taking a piece of moonstone Sirius had retrieved and powdering it under Slughorn’s watch. Sirius busied himself by getting out the scales they’d need to measure the powder.
“I’ll check on you two in a bit then…”
Slughorn had moved on to the next pair, and Sirius immediately grabbed Mary’s arm and, leaning in, he whispered intently, “Leave it all alone. If you know what’s good for you, leave it alone.”
Mary did not speak of Leila Yaxley or James or any other piece of gossip through the class period. The pair completed the potion in silence, receiving a satisfactory mark from Slughorn. At the end of class, Leila made a point of walking by his bench, her body brushing the wooden desk.
Mary McDonald took note of it all, her eyes flitting back and forth between Leila and Sirius. The interaction between them hadn’t lasted long, but it was enough to inflame Mary’s imagination.
Sirius was ready to leave and he gathered up his belongings in a rush, but not quickly enough.
“I’m going to be a reporter for the Daily Prophet,” Mary told him waspishly, her hand on his arm, stopping him from leaving. “And a good reporter doesn’t let a story go, threats or not. I’ll get to the bottom of it, Black “ whatever is going on between Leila Yaxley and you “ and that’s a promise.”
After double Potions there was always a morning break for the fifth years.
“Let’s go-” Sirius began.
“Outside,” James finished for him. The four boys laughed. It was a common joke between them on how similar Sirius and James’s thoughts ran.
It was raining again, forcing the boys to remain under the cover of the stone structure that encircled the courtyard. The titter and tatter of the drips landing on the stone statues and cobblestones was relaxing.
James and Remus remained standing, leaning against one of the walls. Sirius and Peter were seated on the wide, carved stone railing. Sirius was sitting on the rail, knees bent, his back against the stone pole. Peter’s legs were dangling, his back facing the courtyard, and his cloak, which he’d taken off because it was warmer than usual, slung over the rail beside him.
“How long do you suppose Sluggy is going to make us stay with our assigned partners?” James asked. “Yaxley bossed me around the entire period. Cut this, powder that; she was commanding me like a servant.”
“She’s been trained since birth to boss people around and to think herself better than anyone else,” Sirius replied. He knew this all too well, having been brought up in a similar manner.
James gave Sirius a funny look and then cleared his throat. “Well that was after I told her to ‘bugger off’.”
“What?” Peter asked, confused.
Ignoring Peter, James kept his gaze on Sirius. “She was full of flattery at first “ I think she hoped I would sing her praises to you.”
“To me?” Peter asked, bewildered.
“No, to Sirius.”
Sirius shifted uncomfortably.
“She wanted to know why Sirius hadn’t been returning her notes or any of her advances. I played along and told her that you didn’t want anything to do with her, and to ‘bugger off’. She didn’t take too kindly to that.”
“Leila’s been sending you notes?” Peter repeated.
“It’s nothing,” Sirius stated shortly.
“Nothing? If it was nothing why’d you keep the notes secret?” James asked.
“I’m allowed to keep things to myself. I don’t have to tell you lot everything.”
“We made a pact,” Remus reminded him.
“When we were twelve!”
“I didn’t know it was so meaningless to you,” Remus responded coldly. Sirius regretted his words immediately.
It hadn’t been meaningless. At the time they’d just discovered Remus was a werewolf, and in order to make Remus feel better and part of the group they’d all promised from that day forth to tell each other everything.
“There’s nothing to tell. I’m not interested in her and she hasn’t taken the hint that I don’t ever want to speak to her,” Sirius explained. “That’s all.”
“Leila Yaxley is the one your parents arranged you to marry?” Remus questioned.
Sirius had never told him this, which meant James had. It was this sort of information he prayed a girl like Mary McDonald would never uncover. The handful of Slytherins that were privy to the information would keep quiet as their parents had commanded, and he wanted it to stay that way.
“Tried to arrange…and if there is anything I can do about it, they won’t succeed.”
“She’s the one you kissed in your Aunt’s garden in front of her father?” Remus added.
“Well…yes…how’d you-”
“James told me,” Remus said.
“And me too,” Peter admitted.
“So she thinks you’re interested even though you aren’t?” Remus repeated. “I can understand why she hasn’t taken your disinterest seriously. After the kiss and the way you were flirting with her when we were getting off the Hogwarts Express. Then you did agree to meet her that one time.”
“I wasn’t flirting! Whose side are you on anyway?” Sirius asked. He had been flirting, but in that careless, light way that he used around lots of girls.
“Her side,” Remus said with a grin.
“Well do you have any advice then?” Sirius asked. “I can see you are dying to give me some.”
“Stop avoiding her and tell it to her face. Explain it to her, instead of ignoring it.”
“It isn’t that simple…it isn’t just a girl going after me, it’s her entire family. The Yaxley’s are hoping “ no praying - on this alliance with the Blacks. They need this alliance to rise anywhere in the world,” he said bitterly. “Then there are my parents who want it as well. It’s my duty and all to have a proper marriage.”
“The Marauders could take care of her,” James said suddenly, a look of mischief glinting in his eyes.
“No “ I’ve got a handle on it,” Sirius said, which was far from the truth. He didn’t want his friends getting involved in this mess with his family. However, he was grateful for the gesture.
“Actually there is someone else that needs to be taken care of.” An idea was already forming in his mind before the sentence was finished.
“Who?” Peter asked eagerly.
“Mary McDonald.”
“I’m not hearing this!” Remus said suddenly, covering his ears to prove his point.
James rolled his eyes. “We’ll just discuss this later when the prefect isn’t around.”
Remus uncovered his ears cautiously. “What’s McDonald done to you?”
“James, Peter, do any of you have the slightest idea of what Remus is talking about?” Sirius asked innocently. “I’m worried about you, mate. Maybe you should get your hearing checked…”
“Oh, never mind,” Remus replied, though he did give each of his friends a very McGonagall-like stare.
The second week of classes was almost at an end. It was the first night since they’d been back that James, Sirius, and Peter found free time to continue ‘Operation Furry Little Problem.’ Remus was at a prefect meeting, and their other two roommates were downstairs engrossed in a game of chess that looked like it could last all night.
The three of them were intensely rummaging through pages of detailed notes stapled haphazardly together, rolls of parchment tied with coarse string, and diagrams of the human body covered in symbols. There were books--some thick, some with crinkly, yellow paper, some with pages that were still glossy--scattered on the floor, all with the covers taken off so the subject could not be easily identified. They were bringing with them only the necessary Animagus material.
“James “ are you in here?” Victoria Dekker, unabashed, entered the fifth-year dormitory.
“Victoria!” James groaned.
“Oh, dressed? I keep hoping I’ll come in here one time and you’ll be in nothing but a towel!” she announced.
“If your mother could only hear you…” James said.
Peter and Sirius all called a greeting to her.
James had resigned to the fact that he would never be free of the pestering of Victoria Dekker. Things had improved; she no longer followed him like a love-sick puppy. Her infatuation lessened, and James found moments when he did enjoy her company. Usually she was just a pest, especially when she came over to his house and his parents or her parents would laugh at his protests to her affections.
James recalled his father one time exclaiming heartedly, “One day, James, when she’s a young woman, you’ll be chasing her.” At eleven years old he had just gagged and made faces. At fourteen Victoria was very pleasing to the eye, but James knew he would never see her as more than a friend. Victoria appeared to accept this, except for occasional lewd comments.
“So what did Mary McDonald do to incur your revengeful wrath?” she asked conversationally.
If she noticed all the books and notes lying around or Sirius buttoning his warm over-cloak, Victoria did not say.
“Who says we did anything to her?” Sirius asked with an innocent air.
“Oh, please. It has your mark all over it. Who else would charm the poor girl’s nose to grow larger each hour while her ears shrink at the same pace?”
“Do you think anyone else has figured it out?” wondered Peter.
“Peter!” Sirius groaned.
“Sorry! She knew anyway,” Peter protested.
“No one else knows as far as I can tell “ it was rather hilarious to watch her walking down the hallway trying to cover both her nose and ears. So I ask again, what did she do?”
“Sticking her nose into things best left alone,” Sirius explained.
“Right. Hey, what’s going on and where are you going?”
James groaned inwardly. He’d been so hopeful that with her curiosity about Mary satiated, she’d leave before asking this.
“Library, Victoria.” He kept his voice stern, though careful not to be rude. She was the daughter of a family friend after all.
“You have enough books between the three of you to start your own library. You’re up to something,” she accused, gesturing towards the objects covering the floor.
“You caught us,” Sirius said. “Look, this is a boys-only sort of thing. If you let us go peacefully, James will sit with you for breakfast and dinner tomorrow.”
“What?” James protested, sending a glare at his friend.
“Tomorrow and the next day, and I’ll even cover for you if any prefects start asking questions about your whereabouts.”
“Deal!” Sirius stood up, formally shaking Victoria’s hand.
“Oi! Don’t I get a say in this?” James complained, his anger only half-hearted.
“Nope,” Sirius said.
“Aren’t you dating Thomas Bauer?” Peter asked out of nowhere. Three sets of eyes turned on him suddenly and he turned pink instantly.
“You are?” James looked shocked. “You’re dating a Hufflepuff?”
“So what if I am?” Victoria huffed.
“Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain?” Sirius questioned.
“When did this happen?” James added the question quickly, before Victoria had even been able to answer Sirius’s question.
“Yes, Sirius,” Victoria answered, ignoring James’s question. She began walking out the door, but James jumped in front of her.
“When did this happen?” James pestered her.
“Are you jealous?” she asked coyly.
“No,” James said quickly. He was actually elated. Victoria could now spend all her time bothering this Hufflepuff, but despite not thinking of her romantically, he’d known Victoria forever and his protective instinct was on alert. “Won’t your boyfriend be jealous if I sit with you?”
Victoria grinned. “You aren’t getting out of it that easily. And you aren’t just sitting with me, but with my friends. Besides, Amy Andrews has a crush on you.”
“I still don’t see why you want me to sit with you…” James mumbled.
“Because I can. See you at breakfast.” Victoria smiled brightly and skipped off out of the dorm room.
At the shooting glares James was wordlessly sending him, Sirius held his hands up. “That was the only way to rid of her and you know it.”
“Right, which of her friends is Amy?” James asked.
“The tall one with braces,” Peter supplied.
James knew immediately who Peter was referring to. James rolled his eyes. Amy Andrews was mousy, plain and gangly. Instead of coming back to school curvier like so many other girls, Amy now sported braces. It was too much to hope that of all of Victoria’s friends it would be the really good-looking one that fancied him.
“Right, so once we get out of the Tower like we planned, Sirius will be under the cloak.” James handed him the silvery material bundle to store in a pocket under his robe. The three of them could no longer fit under the cloak together. “I’ll be pretending to escorting Peter to the Hospital Wing, in case we run into a teacher, since it’ll be approaching curfew. I found the perfect hex; it looks sinister, but the blue boils are one hundred percent painless.”
Peter paled at this new bit of information. “Why do I have to be the one hexed?” Peter asked.
“Because it’s the most believable. How many times must we go over that?” Sirius pondered with frustration.
Peter stayed silent, though he was still perturbed by the idea.
“Once we get to the fourth floor and through the mirror, we’ll be in the clear. I can undo the hex then,” James relayed.
As far as the boys knew, the passage behind the mirror on the fourth floor was the only way out to the Hogwarts grounds without using a main door that would be watched by patrolling teachers and prefects.
After gathering the material they felt was essential, the boys bounded down the steps into the common room. Numerous students waved at them, but as they exited James sighed a breath of relief that no one had tried to converse with them. The boys reached the fourth floor without a hitch; James had applied the hex on Peter when they were outside of the Tower, away from the watchful eyes of their admirers.
Almost at their destination, James now walked with a bit of a bounce to his step. There was a reason to be excited--tonight could be it. Tonight could be the final step of the Animagus transformations which they’d been working on for years.
The mirror was toward the end of the fourth floor corridor and their footsteps echoed eerily in the hallway. The torches in the hallway were spread out further apart than anywhere else in the castle, giving the area a haunted feeling, with long shadows cast about.
James suddenly turned to look behind him, anxious because it sounded like a fourth set of footsteps had joined them. No one was there. As he turned back ahead, the last person he wanted to run into was approaching them: Severus Snape. Snape had paused right in front of the mirror, right where they needed to go. Does he know it’s a passage? James doubted it, but the possibility was aggravatingly there.
“Well, well, well,” Snape sneered, surveying the two of them. James wondered where Sirius was standing, and he wanted Peter to stop darting his eyes from the mirror to Snape and back to the mirror then to Snape. The last thing they needed was Snape to think the mirror held any interest to them.
“You look more hideous than usual Pettigrew. Did a spell backfire on you?”
“No, one of your lot did this,” James lied. “And we’ll be reporting it.”
“Good thing you’re with him, Potter. The fat lump would get lost without you. Now the million galleon question, where is Black?”
“Mind your own business, Snivellus. Get out of here before I hex you.”
“By all means, you’re welcome to pass by to the Hospital Wing, did you say? I have every right to be here and I don’t feel like moving.”
“Stupefy!”
Snape crumbled to the ground. Sirius emerged from underneath the cloak and kicked the form of Snape lightly to verify he indeed was unconscious.
“Why’d you do that?” James asked.
“Did he look like he was about to leave anytime soon? It’s like he can sense we’re up to something, the bloody idiot.”
“But once he wakes, I’ll be the one he reports on. I can’t get detention tomorrow, I have to be at Quidditch tryouts or Aidan will kill me.”
Threat of missing Quidditch was probably the only thing that could make James regret receiving a detention.
Sirius slid the mirror open. “If he does snitch on you, I’ll take the blame. I snuck up behind him or something. Now let’s go before Snivellus comes around.”
They lit their wands as they stepped into the narrow, but tall, passage. James murmured the counter-curse and the boils on Peter’s face disappeared. The passage was winding and steepened at parts; after all, it needed to bring them from the fourth floor to the ground floor. At the end, there was a small square door which unlocked after three wand taps. The door was large enough for an adult to crawl through on their knees. Outside they doused their wands and donned their hoods, the dark sky giving them plenty of cover from anyone looking outside a castle window.
The adventure was not yet complete, and James quickly froze the Whomping Willow with a long stick. The next passage, which was under the tree, would take them directly to the Shrieking Shack. The Shrieking Shack safely held Remus each full moon night, locking the werewolf in with wards and charms. To an outsider it might have seemed an unnecessarily long trip when Hogwarts was filled with empty rooms “ but only the Shrieking Shack could provide them with absolute privacy, and as their activity was illegal to the level of incarceration in Azkaban, even risk-takers such as the Marauders would not chance it.
The long walk gave James plenty of time to think. And there were lots of things to ponder. They were about to embark on the most dangerous part of the Animagus process. All the other steps had dangers, but any problems could be easily reversible.
Inside the bag slung over his shoulder were three tiny vials, each containing four drops of a magenta potion. The liquid would induce a trance-like state which would allow a person’s animal form to immerge from his unconscious mind. Before completing the wandless transformation, it was important to clear your mind and not have any preconceived notions about the animal you would become. You had to come to the realization that you have no choice in your animal form, and that it was possible you could turn into a slug, cockroach or other less pleasing animals. It was of the utmost importance not to panic or be disappointed; either of these two emotions, or both, could have dire consequences. If you panicked it was possible to be stuck permanently in the trance-like state, or if panic occurred later, during the transformation, it could cause you to be trapped in half-transformation state. If you had severe disappointment, especially if your mind was already set on a specific animal form, your mind could will your body to turn into an animal you were not destined to form. The human mind could be dangerously powerful, and if you did transform into the wrong animal, the animal’s instincts would overcome your human mind, and there had been cases of wizards and witches who never regained their human mind.
“Are we there yet?” Peter asked for the fourth time.
James was about to tell Peter to shut up when at the end of the tunnel he spotted the trapdoor that would allow them entrance into the Shrieking Shack.
“Yes,” James answered with a laugh. He was tired from the walk himself, and he wanted to get to it already.
The three of them entered the Shrieking Shack, and Sirius locked the trapdoor tightly behind them. As the boys walked through, each room looked to be in worse shape than the previous. There were claw and bite marks on almost every surface. They managed to scrounge three large pillows to sit on in the upper area. Now that they were here, the tension and nervous energy inside of each of them began to build even more.
James began emptying his bag, taking out the notes and books they had decided to take with them. He carefully placed the three magenta, potion-filled vials with one dropper in front of him. Their notes for Animagus-training were nothing like their school notes. These had been written meticulously, immensely detailed and clear. A mistake in even the smallest detail could mean death, so the boys had been obsessively careful.
Almost three years had passed since the idea to become Animagi had first come to Sirius, James, and Peter. It was the most complicated Transfiguration, and according to the books, no underage wizard would have the magical knowledge or capability to do this successfully. Yet here they were. Not that it had been easy. James could write a novel about all the setbacks that had occurred. He reminisced about the inventive schemes they’d used to purchase the proper books and odd ingredients from shady venues. There had also been moments when they’d wanted to give up, frustrated, feeling they were attempting the impossible. Yet every month, as they helplessly watched the full moon’s pull wreck havoc on Remus, their resolve was renewed. With his nausea to lethargy to self-induced gashes and bites, failure was not an option.
Though James didn’t like to think about this, none of them were one hundred percent sure humans in animal form could harmlessly hang with a werewolf; no one had ever tested it before. They’d kept this from Remus, who would only worry unnecessarily. The fact that werewolves were not dangerous to animals was well-documented, but what of humans who’d merely transformed themselves into one? Would the werewolf still regard the animal as human? Would they still smell like humans? Would that be enough to excite the wolf?
“So this is it,” James began. His voice was an octave too high. Peter looked queasy and Sirius’s face was unnaturally tense. “We’ve all read the instructions? We all have them memorized?”
Sirius and Peter nodded, heads bobbing more quickly than natural from the nerves.
“Anyone have any questions?”
“It’s a little late for that, isn’t it?” Sirius let out a dry laugh.
“If any of us doesn’t feel prepared, we’ll just have to postpone it,” James insisted. He knew Sirius was just trying to let go of some of the tension in the room, but James wanted to make sure that Peter didn’t feel pressured to take this last step before he felt fully prepared. So James forced both of them to recite the instructions aloud one more time. After he also stated it one more time, there was suddenly, as if time had sped up, nothing else left to do but actually do it.
He turned to them both, his adrenaline rushing. “One of us has to go first.”
Sirius gave him a nod, willing to take the lead, but someone else spoke up first.
“I will.” Peter’s voice was high and loud.
“Peter, I’m not sure you should,” James said skeptically, leaving his reasons unspoken. Peter’s weakest subject was Transfiguration and he’d been the slowest to go through the process up to this point “ it would be foolish to let him sacrifice himself…
“Let me do it, Peter,” Sirius said, giving Peter a chance to rescind and save face.
“No.” The word reverberated around the room. “Sirius, James, I have to go first “ or “ or-I-I’ll never do it.”
Peter was stuttering and shaking, but there was a determined look in his eyes, the look of a Marauder. James and Sirius exchanged worried glances, and Sirius made a half-shrug gesture. James could read in Sirius’s look the same thing he was thinking; Peter had never been first on anything, and maybe it was time that they let him do just that.
“Okay. Only if you’re sure,” James relented.
“I am.”
“Should we go over it one more time?”
“I know it!” Peter replied tersely in a tone he rarely used toward James. “I know what to do. I’m not stupid.”
James silently handed over one of the three small vials of the most expensive potion any of them had handled. James bit back the warning to tell Peter to be extra careful with it. They only had enough for three doses.
“Good luck,” James uttered instead. Peter moved to the center of the room, kneeling, while James and Sirius moved to opposite ends of the room, as close to the walls as possible. They drew their wands out, ready to aide Peter, though it was doubtful if anything did go wrong that either could be of help.
Peter closed his eyes, first step about to commence, sweat forming on his forehead. The first step was to clear your mind, control your breathing and relax your mind. The books had stressed to work on relaxation from the beginning. It had been hardest for Sirius, who was rash, and easiest to conquer for Peter. James watched as Peter visibly relaxed in front of him, the training kicking in. Step two was to place four drops of the magenta liquid on his tongue, which should cause Peter to fall into a trance-like state.
James followed Peter’s hand as he took the vial and dropper, dripping the liquid on his tongue. Peter let the empty vial roll out of his hand and onto the floor. His eyes closed once more. At this point the image of your animal was supposed to be uncovered, and the second the image was clear you had to focus all your energy, mind, and magic on it--grab it, embrace it. If it was done properly, you’d transform almost instantly that first time.
James waited, anticipation causing every muscle in his body--in his arms, legs, and face--to tense. Only nothing was happening. No trance. No transformation. Just silence, awful, unbearable silence.
Something was wrong.
James was afraid to meet Sirius’s eyes; the same terror he felt was reflecting in Sirius’s gaze, causing them both to be momentarily frozen. Then Peter began twitching and trembling, a cry forming on his lips, and Peter fell to the floor, thrashing around, arms and legs flailing. His skin was also turning an odd yellow color. Not one of these effects had been described in any of the dozens of books they’d poured over.
James turned away. Peter had stopped thrashing and now lay like a corpse, still. Sirius kneeled down beside his friend, shaking him, murmuring spells that were meant to awaken. James began pacing. He’d get help--but from where? By the time he reached Hogwarts it could be too late. That left Hogsmeade. It was late and everyone would be asleep. There was no choice but to knock on every door until someone allowed him to use their fireplace to call St. Mungos and alert Professor Dumbledore.
“I’m going for help-” James said, his voice breaking slightly, heavy with worry. He didn’t look back at Sirius or the lifeless body of his friend.
He’d find someone “ he had to “ Merlin “ they’d all be expelled for sure “ and if Peter survived this…
“James! Wait!”
“There’s no time to wait!”
“But look- Peter’s “ a “ look “ he’s a “ uh-”
Sirius let out a strangled half-laugh, half-sob.
James swiveled around, his eyes finding the spot where Peter’s body had been lying “ only there was a pile of clothes, no Peter, and from under the black robes “ scurrying through the material “ was a rat!