academic curiosity

*

"Well, we know that Filch didn't capture any of the Ravenclaws because they would have rat us out!" Lily told Dale and Ada as they walked out of the fourth dungeon after their latest Potions lesson. Seeing Dale's look she added, "No pun intended, I swear."

"They're probably afraid I'd get my hands on them!" Ada remarked menacingly.

Dale looked sick. "Please don't provoke anyone! I just got these new kicks by owl order yesterday!"

Lily stepped in a stinky puddle that were typical on the Dungeon level. She made a face as they began to approach a corridor with stairs that led up to drier ground.

"That was five full days without trainers I'll have you know!"

"I tried to let you borrow my extra pair!" Ada scowled and continued, "But you wouldn't have em!"

"THEY'RE PINK!" Dale sputtered at her, looking to Lily for assistance.

"If you were more secure in your-"

Lily was so busy trying to not be involved in the conversation that she ran into a figure hovering around the corner where the corridor became the large room that led to the staircases.

"OH! Jesus and Mary, Mother of God!" Lily cursed impressively, holding both hands on either side of her head to prevent her brains from falling out. Had she not just done this a week earlier in the seventh floor corridor???

"No. It's just Sirius and Peter!" a voice sounding very much like that of Mr. Black spoke earnestly.

She could see spots dancing over her eyes. As she focused on the person she had hurtled into she saw nothing but a big fuschia dot and the slightly oversized ears of Peter Pettigrew. Yes, she had done this before and with Pettigrew.

"Must be fate, Peter!" She could hear Sirius barking laughter.

"Ethereal Transference?" Dale suggested with curiosity. He turned to Lily quickly, "Could I do some tests?!"

"NO!" Both Lily and Peter shouted and Sirius started barking again.

"What are you two doing down here anyway? Lingering in this foyer waiting to attack innocent young girls?" Ada commented sourly. Her stern frown matched many of the gargoyle-like sculptures high on the dungeon walls behind her.

"Or me!" Dale peeped.

"Yes, well as tempting as all that sounds..." Sirius said, giving Dale a long uncertain look, "We just paused here because... Because, um..."

"Spiders!" Peter squeaked suddenly.

"Yes. Uh, spiders were walking over there and we watched them!" Sirius finished lamely, gesturing to a random corner by one of the set of stairs.

In response Dale, Lily and Ada stared at the the boys silently.

"They were very nice," Peter mumbled.

"Merlin! I'm hungry, aren't you Peter?"

"Um, no. Oh... Yes! Yes! Soooo Hungry! Lets go!!"

With that the two turned tail and ran up one of the sets of stairs, dust trailing behind them.

"We go to school with some real nut jobs, y'know?" Ada turned to Lily and shrugged.

"So you don't think he's so 'dreamy' anymore, huh?" Dale laughed and pointed at Sirius' settling dust.

"Oh, I think he's cracking as long he just keeps his mouth shut and looks pretty!" Ada insisted.

"I´ve never noticed that before!" Lily exclaimed and pointed to a monster imbedded in the ceiling above their heads.

It was about six feet long and was the largest of the sculptures above them. What Lily had just noticed was that It had one horrible round veiny eye. However where it's left eye should have been was a perfectly hollow socket.

"Maybe it's symbolism," Ada yawned at it.

Dale suddenly reached over into Ada's bag and hurled her bottle of ink on to the floor below the Sculpture's feet. It broke and splattered black goo all over the flagstones.

"WHAT ON EARTH?!" Ada screamed, staring at Dale.

"THAT was symbolic!" Dale declared and marched up the stairs.

Ada appealed to Lily with a bewildered look.

"I don´t think he likes you talking about Sirius," Lily offered.

"I barely mentioned him!"

"Yeah, but he´s not the only boy in Hogwarts," Lily explained. She privately thought that Dale had quite the soft spot for Ada.

*

By late October the Gryffindor and Slytherin first years had taken three somewhat successful flying lessons. It would and should have been six, but unfortunately putting two sets of eleven year olds who think they despise each other in a room together is a mistake, but putting them on a pitch together and giving them anything resembling a projectile and clunky old sticks was a grisly crisis.

Madam Mulkey was on her second to last thread of sanity with this spirited crop of children.

"Good to see you all alive," she welcomed them. "You all should remember the procedure. Please mount your brooms!" She blew her whistle abruptly and scattered away.

Lily saw a few brooms dart out above her head. She stuck out her hand and before she could utter a word the school's old shooting star flew into her hand and she was in the air. She flew the familiar relay, swung around a bit haphazardly and raced back to Mulkey.

Maybe Petunia would like to go for ride on the back of my broom? Lily wondered but scoffed at the picture of her boney sister taking even a single step off the solid ground. Besides, she thought, I don't even have a broom yet. First years were not even allowed to have a broom.

She admired the neat landing of the Slytherin girl next to her. The girl, however, grimaced at her and moved away.

"A bit surly," Lily commented to herself.

Dale overheard her and grinned. "A real pro with this flying concept though. Just as good as that rabble!" He pointed at Sirius and Potter.

After a few more minutes of the relays Mulkey hesitantly announced, "Class, I think you might be ready for a game of Quid-" The uproar was so immediate that she couldn't finish and had to motion violently for silence. "You will do as I say and to the letter or I will turn you over to your respective head of house, is that perfectly clear?! I want absolutely no funny business!" Her eyes rested on Sirius and James and meeting the naturally insolent faces added, "The other two houses have completed their flying lessons and I frankly don't have time to coddle you any longer! If you insist on trying to kill each other during the simple relays then you might as well kill each other playing Quidditch!! Those of you who come out of this with your lives and long term memories will be educated in the advanced flying techniques necessary in the game!"

Lily looked desperately at Mulkey as other students formed into the mixed teams she was arranging. Was she serious? The girl who glared at her earlier was named Flavia Ire and as they were put into the same team she made a point to ram into Lily's shoulder. "Oh, merlin..." Lily whispered horrified, "I'm too young to die!"

Everyone flew upward with greater expertise than they had showed in their relays. Some still were teetering and clutching their brooms with white knuckles, specifically Severus Snape and Peter Pettigrew.

Madam Mulkey below, released the balls and ascended with them quickly to referee the match. Lily had been made a chaser, along with Surly-Flavia and another Slytherin, Osman Shodwick. Playing beaters were Hogwart's most prodigious liar, Abraham Canard and the one-man Hogwarts cartel, Eddie Carmichael. Remus Lupin was keeper and Joe Leary was chosen as the worst possible candidate for seeker as Lily knew he was uninterested in playing the sport (he rather enjoyed flying around aimlessly though) and also preoccupied with the buttered crumpets he had stashed in the pockets of his trousers.

Across from her she saw that both Sirius and Dale were beaters, Davey Gudgeon, Ada and Frank were chasers, Potter was seeker and Severus, unfortunately for himself and everyone else, was keeper. The rest of the class stood impatiently for their turn when those from the first string were knocked off their brooms.

On that note the game began.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU SNAPE!?! BLOCK THE BLEEDIN' BALL! BLOCK IT OR I'LL-"

Madam Mulkey blew her whistle feebly at them. Quite a few of the less ambitious participants had been knocked off in the first few minutes. Joe had bounced, much to the relief and pleasure of Lily who had never seen such a thing in her life, and she was flying upon a broomstick so you know that's serious.

She had a vague notion of what she was supposed to be doing once she saw Osman Shodwick hit the first two quaffles through one of the hoops, amidst death threats from James Potter: "I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU SNAPE!!!!"

Lily had caught on hesitantly but soon was ducking bludgers and chasing after a quaffle herself. She caught up to it and panicked for a split second, forgetting what to do with it, but her reflexes took over and she chucked the ball through the air where it pummeled into the side of-

"Oh! Sorry Dale! Was that your head?"

"Don't apologize! Just play!" Osman hissed at her as he whizzed past.

Peter hit a clumsy bludger right at Potters´ back but Dale blocked it proving that at least if he had a concussion, he wasn't unconscious yet.

"Hey! Hey Lily!" Joe shouted up at her. Lily looked over at him and felt a person fly past her quickly. She turned and saw Eddie Carmichael doing a turnabout back towards her.

"That was a close one!" Eddie shouted. She saw the bludger that had nearly taken off her head, flying at Sirius instead.

"Thanks!" she shouted.

Potter came flying by her nonchalantly and Lily wondered if he saw the Golden Snitch. Even so, we have all the points! Lily thought triumphantly.

Then at that moment, two things happened. Snape was knocked off his broom by a flying bludger hit by Sirius and James caught the Snitch.

"Potter's team!" Madam Mulkey shouted drearily at them (she had obviously been rooting for the underdogs) and everyone landed.

Lily saw that Severus' forehead was bleeding profusely from his fall off his broom, making his inky black hair stick to his face.

"I was on your side!" he screeched furiously at Sirius.

Everyone looked to the bleeding Snape then back at the poised Sirius and brushed the former off. Peter pointed and began to laugh. Madam Mulkey was busy collecting the balls, so Lily approached Severus herself.

"Gross," she said to him,pointing at his cut.

She moved toward him in the way one would a deer or a exotic bird that had inexplicably entered their back yard. He gave her a murderous look and spun around, darting away. She danced around him and holding out her wand quickly recited, "Foramen tersum!"

Severus had opened his mouth in a perfect 'O' and had turned dangerously white. But the wound stopped bleeding and most of the blood had disappeared. He was frozen, astonished, for nearly half a minute.

"I learned that in Defense Against The Dark Arts!" Lily exclaimed happily.

"Yeah, I know..." he muttered while feeling his head. He looked sharply at her. "It feels... strange. Did you do something else to me?"

"I swear I didn't!" Lily replied, pocketing her wand.

"If you aim a wand at me again you´ll regret it!" Snape was hissing at her back as she waltzed of to join Ada and Alia Bashir on the walk back to the castle.

"Why did your team win?" Lily interrupted their conversation.

"Potter caught the Snitch, you were there!" Ada snapped.

"But we had more points!" Lily argued.

"You didn't have enough! Catching the Golden Snitch is worth one hundred-fifty!"

Lily slowed her pace and let the two walk ahead so she could get lost in a reverie.

"What's that you got there, Flavia?" Lily overheard a Slytherin girl asked Miss Surly.

"It's a tincture that keeps you lively... Carmichael made it especially for me, he said."

"Oh? Can I try some?"

"Sure! I'll let you have two pinches for a Galleon..."

"Lovely day!" James Potter came up beside her, in a good mood because he had won the game. Lily looked away from the distasteful transaction ahead to the wide smile of her house mate.

"Oh, it's the bees knees!" Lily replied sarcastically and James snorted laughter.

"What?!"

"Well, I'm a tad confused. Let's start with this Quidditch thing. It seems pretty blasted unfair that you can just catch the Snitch and beat us like that!"

He grinned and replied, "It's how the game is played. Besides it's not so easy finding the Snitch. That is unless you're bloody good, like myself, then it really is pretty easy. So yeah, I guess I understand your feelings about it."

Lily saw that he was only partially kidding and had to fight to stop her eyes from rolling.

"You seem pretty well chuffed about the whole thing, probably grew up playing! But how on earth am I supposed to compete with the likes of you when that was my first match ever?"

He gave her a look of amazement at the thought of a life without Quidditch then became thoughtful, "You enjoy playing?"

"Very much. I've decided to play it as often as I can!"

"I have a book that you can borrow that might help..."

"You have a book?" Lily asked him archly as she trudged up the stairs to the castle next to him.

James didn't perceive her jest and continued, "It's called Quidditch Through the Ages."

"Oh, then. Can I borrow that later?" She saw that Alia was motioning to her from the entrance to the great hall where a the feast had already apparated. She could see up to the staff table where Dumbledore sat. He was nearly a mile away and in a different room but she thought she saw him smile right at her. She gave a polite wave and to her astonishment and delight he returned the wave and then turned to Madam Pomfrey as she began speaking to him over the table.

"Yeah! Sure! Anytime..." She heard a far away voice say from over her shoulder. She raced Alia to the treacle pudding, which for once had been set out early.

*

"Ohhhhhh..... Why????" Lily asked the high ceilings of the Gryffindor common room. She was laid out flat on her back, splayed out on the carpet, her belly protruding. On either side was Alia and Joe.

"If you squint your eyes right, these Bernie Botts look cracking!"

Lily looked over at Joe and saw that he had an eye to the window in the little candy box and was turning it.

"Are you mad? How can you even look at those without barfing?" Lily moaned.

"Are you three okay?" Enid Longbottom asked. Lily could see her as a dark figure hovering in the light.

"We had a little treacle-eating competition fun..." Lily trailed off, then hiccuped. "Ohhhhh..."

"Again?!" she snapped.

"Yessss..." Alia supplied the answer, "It's always fun. Until the pain starts..."

"The agony!" Joe moaned, "I need Eddie Carmichael!"

Eddie, a Slytherin first year was the type who had items of unsavory origin strapped to the insides of his robes for sale in the corridors. He specialized though, in his own homemade potions and powders.

"Oh, I think not Leary!" Enid cried, "Getting peddled some pretend billywig concoction will only short you a few sickles!"

"Sickles?" Joe replied incredulous, "I only wish!" Enid lost her patience and stormed off.

"What's going on over here?" Remus asked and he laid himself out by them, imitating their sprawls.

"Treacle pudding happened," Alia replied lackdastically.

"Again?" he murmured. Lily, even in her overfed stupor could see that Remus was amused that for once their house mate Alia was not in the mood for gossiping.

"Oy, how are all you? I see there was another round of what's-it-called." Sirius sat next to Remus on the floor.

"I won," Lily stuck both fists in the air.

"It would have been me but I puked halfway through!" Alia complained bitterly.

Lily saw that Sirius was watching Remus out of the corner of his eye with curious expression. Remus was rocking back and forth and had a sort of overexcited look to him as he gazed at the big window.

"What's with that mess over there?" She heard the voice of Angelus Johnson ask Enid across the room.

"Oh, It's the full moon tonight. You know how everyone goes a bit mad around this time of month..."

*

The day before Halloween was very chilly and Lily, who hadn't the better sense that morning to layer warm clothing from the depths of her trunk, took to running through the unheated corridors to get around. She was using this technique to reach the library when a lone figure of a girl hailed her down. Lily stopped and jumped up and down to stay warm.

"You're Lily Evans, right?" the girl asked, seemingly unfazed by the other´s wild and inappropriate motions.

Lily stopped and studied the features of the face before her. She suddenly recognized her as the Ravenclaw, named Nico Quietus.

"Yeah, Quietus?" Lily smiled benignly.

"I just wanted to let you know there's no hard feelings."

"What?" Lily asked, momentarily confused.

"I never got around to telling you that I wasn't brassed off about that duel between our houses, or anything." She cracked a grin and remarked, "Actually it was rather fun." Lily recalled the memory of Nico screaming silently and rolling wildly on the floor, because she thought that rats had invaded her coif. She had a strange idea of fun, apparently.

"In my Charms class I want to throw myself out the window from boredom! You're good... That Leary bloke isn't half bad either. He has got... A creative spirit, my mum would say. Starla kept that long violet beard, says it adds a nice dramatic effect for her line of work... She tells stories, you know. Any road, I wish you and Leary were in my class then maybe we could get on to the good stuff!"

Lily nodded sympathetically but then thought of something. "How did that duel start out anyway?"

Nico looked confused. "What do you mean? You don't know why I challenged your friend?"

After a moment of Lily looking very much unknowing, Nico's chin dropped. "How can you not know? I don't believe it..."

"Believe it sister," Lily replied. Nico looked at her skeptically for a moment, than her face softened.

Lily added, "Not even Ada herself remembers why you challenged her."

At this, Nico narrowed her eyes again. "Oh, she knows all right..."

"Um, really?" Lily asked, beginning to try and think of an excuse to get away from Quietus, as she obviously wouldn't be forthcoming with answers. Her Transfiguration homework couldn't wait all night either...

"She follows the Lord Voldemort, okay!" Nico exclaimed with a bit of impatience.

"Yeah, so?" Lily began to take a step towards the library to cut the discussion short.

The other girl straightened her satiny hair around her head and looked around before continuing, "He is the most powerful dark wizard on the planet."

"You think so?" Lily replied taking another step away.

"He's really bad!" Nico scrunched her fists and looked flushed, seeing that Lily was not impressed.

"Oh, I'm sure he is!" Lily said this truthfully as she had seen Ada's silly shrine to him hung on her head board, his image was a dire one although the renditions attempted to make him look heroic.

"Y'know, I thought you would understand... But your just like everyone else here!" Nico suddenly shrieked and stamped her foot theatrically. "Were all in this safe little bubble, but I promise you that it's quite a different story outside!"

Lily understood from 'Hogwarts, A History' that the school had a considerable number of protections, not discluding the presence of Albus Dumbledore.

She stopped and looked at Nico. "I believe you're right about that," Lily spoke. "So there isn't any reason for you to bother Ada anymore. I won't let any friend of mine use magic for nasty purposes... Besides, she can hardly draw her laces magically let alone perform any dark magic!" Lily laughed heartily and Nico shrugged angrily and walked off.

*

" ...So basically a huge monster will come out and eat everyone up that's not of pure blood... tough luck Lily!" Ada laughed as they came down the stairs to the dungeons.

"This sounds so ridiculous!" Dale pointed at Ada accusingly. "You're filled chin deep in shite, you know that? One day soon your eyes will start bobbing and-"

"Hold that thought, please!" Lily interrupted suddenly and yanked the back of her two friend's robes. They all swung back behind a curve in the stair so to be out of sight from those below. Both Dale and Ada, used to Hogwarts espionage, obediently looked in the direction that Lily was gesturing to.

They had just about come upon the large space at the bottom of the stairway where the gargoyles were perched high on the walls, patiently observing the potions students as they came and went.

"Isn't that Potter?" Ada hissed suspiciously. Lily stomped on her foot to hush her up.

Potter was just below, and he appeared to be alone. He was looking upward in the corridor beyond and was talking to himself. Lily saw that he had in his hand a small object that he was holding up to the light.

"Why on earth is he talking to himself where we have to see? Don't people have the decency to go nutters in private anymore?" Ada sighed.

But it was just as she was making this statement that the mystery was somewhat solved. Three boys came flying down from the ceiling, where they had been out of view from the stairs.

Dale snorted and pointed at Peter. "I wonder if he dresses like that on purpose!"

"Is that all you find alarming about this situation?" Lily hissed at him.

Ada drawled as the four boys went walking off further down the corridor to class, "Why on earth were that lot climbing the walls, anyway? Isn't that where that nasty ol' one-eyed gargoyle lurks?"

*

"Emmm... Hollandaise flavored!" Joe murmured tasting a dollop of the concoction Professor Glint, Slughorn´s assistant had set in front of him.

Lily had a ominous feeling, because Glint was grinning sadistically as he turned away to record something on a clip board.

"Miss Evans!" Glint suddenly exclaimed, his back turned to the class as he scrawled.

"Sir?" she asked warily.

"You look nervous! Why?"

She gazed around for their regular potions instructor, Professor Slughorn, but he was still hidden away in his office, probably getting his fill of candied pineapple.

"Because I think Joe stopped breathing ten seconds ago!" Lily explained, pointing to the collapsed student next to her. Glint turned and smiled.

"He's fine, I was just testing out the Drought of Living Death you all made earlier this year... Fun, huh?"

"Um, he's drooling on my essay Professor," Lily replied.

"Yes! This proves that first years are ready for advancement in Potions studies! This was a test and you all passed! Well... Some of you more than others..."

He looked genuinely excited, but Lily could hear a great number of the class moan at the promise of more difficult projects.

She looked over at Severus, the top student in class and saw that he was smiling smugly. Over his shoulder James Potter was positioning a parchment aeroplane takeoff in his direction.

*

The next day was Halloween and a Saturday so double trouble. The older kids were having a ball in the evening and being uninvited, the first years were trying to decide how to occupy their time.

"You know, I'd personally like to spend the evening spying on that lot." Ada pointed across the room, where Potter, Sirius and Peter were seated by the fire place.

"Any particular reason?" Frank Longbottom asked, overhearing.

"Oh, yes!" Ada sighed, "They're plotting... I don't know what. But I do know it has something to do with that one-eyed monster in the dungeon outside Potions!"

"Oy!" Dale suddenly shouted. "I got it!"

"Do tell!" Lily demanded.

"Well, I bet they stole it's eye..."

"I don't believe it!" Lily replied.

"Well, if you're so smart than why don't you ask 'em!" Ada defended her ruffled friend.

He nodded indignantly at Lily. "Yes. Why don't you, Miss No-it-all!"

Lily shrugged and got up and walked across the common room.

"Potter?" She called.

He looked up at her. A giant book was in Peter's lap and the other two were seated on either side of the book. It appeared as if they were studying, if you didn't know any better.

"Did you steal that gargoyle thing's eye?"

He looked briefly confused but then shook his head. "Nope."

He had his red satchel in one hand and looking at it Lily had a thought. Wasn't the thing she felt inside the satchel round?

"Then what's in that bag?"

"Oh, it's the eye. But no one took it... I think it's a key. Would you like to see it?" he asked her eagerly and she sat down amiably, smirking over her shoulder at Dale and Ada whose mouths were hanging wide open as they attempted to eavesdrop.

He opened the satchel and dropped the contents into her open palm.

It was indeed a big old eye ball. It was made of a kind of strange peachy-coloured granite and etched in tiny lettering under the pupil (imbedded onyx) were strange, ancient-looking letters.

"This is cool." Lily studied it, turning it over in her hand. It was probably worth a fortune, as it was finely made and obvious extremely old, as was everything at Hogwarts.

James made a satisfied, close-mouthed smile. "My father gave it to me. He found it when he was at Hogwarts and always figured it went to the one-eyed gargoyle in the dungeons. But he could never figure out how to get it to stick inside. So he thought I should have a go..."

"He knicked it from him is more like it!" Sirius barked and started laughing.

James scowled at him. "Well, anyway. You're so clever Lily... Want to help us?" He smiled endearingly at her and the gears in her head began to turn.

"Sure... Why don't you let me borrow this here." She held up the eye. "I'll get back to you later tonight! We were all heading to the library anyway!"

"On Halloween night?!" Sirius interrupted with a suspicious smile.

"Um, yes!" Lily lied easily. She got up and waved. "I'll talk to you tonight, James!"

"...Ohhh, Lily! Want to help us?! You're SO smart!!!" She could hear Sirius teasing James from behind her back. Nonplussed, James whispered to Peter saying, "No, no. Try Chapter Seven: 'Folklore versus Science and what it means about the Vampire!'"

"You turn the pages too slow Peter, he may come back soon!" Sirius in turn admonished Peter.

*

It was approximately three and a half minutes later and a bizarre scene was unfolding in the dungeons.

"Almost!" encouraged Lily from the floor, staring upward at Ada, standing on the skinny shoulders of Alia, who was standing on Dale's shoulders. They teetered violently as Ada reached over to the empty socket of the monster sculpture.

"Are you heffas done YET?!" moaned Dale, looking profusely stressed.

"It won't stay in!" Ada moaned. Both her sweaty pink hands were pressed against the sculptured face, her mouth drawn into a pout.

Lily thought of the cryptic inscription on the granite eye. She had memorized it, as it was very short. She muttered the strange sounds that the letters had seemed to make as she gazed up at the glaring face of the gargoyle.

Suddenly there was a popping sound and Ada wailed, "GOT IT! GOT IT!"

Then the human totem pole quaked for the last time and became a human pile in which Lily found herself tangled between the various limbs of her friends.

Indifferently she nudged Ada's shoe off her face and looked up.

"You did get it! Look, it's got both eyes in it´s head now!" she cried.

"Yeah, that's really great. No, really." Dale rolled away with a gray expression. He pointed a finger upward. "Not to be a killjoy, but in case anyone else hasn't noticed... Nothing has happened."

"Look behind you, dummy!" Ada's eye's were radiantly aglow.

Everyone turned to the opposite wall and saw that the stones under a very small archway by the damp floor were rearranging themselves magically.

*