Hogwarts' Original Pranksters' Fantastic First Year

Chapter 4: First Classes

Remus woke up first that morning. He remained for a moment lying on his back, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere reigning in the small room. The three others were sound asleep -- almost. Remus heard James muttering in his sleep, Peter softly snoring, and Sirius -- Sirius was apparently having a nightmare. Remus heard him struggle like the very devil in his bed. Wondering, he got up and drew back the curtains of the four-poster.

"Sirius? Sirius! Wake up, it's just a nightmare!"

Sirius stopped suddenly, his eyes wide open; Remus was struck to see the panic his eyes held.

"Calm down, Sirius, it's all right," said Remus very quickly. "Cool down now, it's over... Gosh, pal, that was some nightmare you were having! Feel better now?"

Sirius sat up and looked around, still wide-eyed from terror. Then he blinked, shook his head, and relaxed. He even gave the shadow of a smile.

"Yeah -- I guess ... Honestly, I'm incredible. Just waking up somewhere other than home sweet home and I panic ... No, really."

"It's normal, you don't have to feel ashamed of this," Remus said reassuringly. "It took a whole minute till I remembered where I was myself. Besides you seemed to wake up from a really scary nightmare -- do you remember something?"

"No, I never remember any of my nightmares."

"Sirius, are you sure? Sometimes it helps, talking about it."

"Don't worry 'bout me, I'll live. I didn't yell, did I?"

"No, you didn't, but you were struggling as if someone was trying to drown you."

"You know what? I must've eaten too much of the delicious beef and mustard sauce, yesterday at the banquet."

Remus couldn't get anything more from him. Then James and Peter woke up, and they had to go down to breakfast -- which was much easier in theory than in practice.

There were a hundred and forty-two stairs at Hogwarts, dozens of corridors, and loads of secret passages. There were also doors that would open only if they wanted to -- one of them even wanted to make Lily sing a lullaby before it would open, and Lily was so exasperated that she turned on her heels and walked away. Students who didn't have a good sense of direction got lost easily. Peter tagged along with James, Sirius and Remus in order not to get lost himself.

It was amazing to see how easily Sirius and Remus adapted themselves to the castle, especially Sirius. James was constantly surprised by the knowledge his friend had gained in so little time. James himself still had troubles getting used to Hogwarts -- everything kept changing so fast. A door would appear one day and disappear later on, it would open onto different passages, open only one day a week, or even just pretend to be a door and not open at all. Some of the stairs in the numerous staircases would move under your feet, and some others had to be avoided if you didn't want to fall. Then there was Peeves the poltergeist of the castle who would pull the carpet out from your feet or push you behind your back to scare you, shouting "GOTCHA!!" in your ear. The only two persons who managed to handle him (more or less) were the Bloody Baron, the sinister-looking ghost that haunted the Slytherin dungeon -- like Nearly-Headless Nick haunted the Gryffindor tower -- and the caretaker, Brutus Adams. But Adams scared everybody. He was tall and burly, but no one ever heard him approach, and he scared first-years stiff. Always silent, he just had to fix his cold eyes on the students to make them want to scamper quickly.

The only student who wasn't scared of Adams was Mundungus Fletcher. This guy was a natural joker, and James and Sirius started very quickly watching his techniques. He knew of secret passages which even Adams had no idea of, and that was very handy to hide himself in case of alert. Plus this kind of alerts were numerous -- although afterwards, nobody could prove with certainty that Mundungus was behind the trick. He owned an impressive collection of Dungbombs, Professor Filibuster's Fireworks, and Cloudy Candles, and loads of other tricks that made things explode around him. Arnold Weasley, who was in Mundungus' year, told the two friends one day that 'Fletch' had managed, in less than one year, to have each student's cauldron melt in Potions at least twice -- and Professor Walsh hadn't been able once to prove he was the one behind it.

So it was Mundungus Fletcher's feats that drove James and Sirius to do something themselves. Tired of being considered as little kids because they were first-years, they decided to act. And they didn't need to look very far to find an appropriate target -- Severus Snape was a perfect choice.

Their very first class was Potions. The classroom was situated down in one of the dungeons, and they shared this class with the Slytherins. At Remus', Lily's and Peter's surprise, Sirius and James sat rather near the Slytherins. Professor Walsh began with taking the roll. When she reached Sirius's name, she looked up and said, "I hope that you'll do at least half as well as your sister did, Black."

Sirius looked offended. Then, when she had finished calling the roll, she told them about Potions, with her cold, sharp voice. Nobody dared to say a word.

"You are here to learn," she told the students then, "and I'm here to teach you, so I won't tolerate any uproar in this class. I speak, you listen, you write down. You speak when I ask you. And if someone doesn't agree, he or she can step out of this classroom right now."

Nobody moved.

"We'll start with a test, in order to see who deigned to open school books during summer. One point will be given for each right answer, one point will be taken for each wrong one. You" -- she shot a cold glance at Peter, who turned very pale all of a sudden -- "Pettigrew, is it? What is the difference between aconite and monkshood?"

Peter opened his mouth, but he didn't let out a sound. He looked around desperately. Snape began to snigger to himself. Lily and Lisa raised their hand at the same time, and Remus followed after a second. Walsh frowned, which made her look even more formidable.

"Now, give an answer!"

Still nothing. Wilkes was choking with laughter. Then Peter finally said in a very small voice, "Er ... they aren't the same colour, aren't they?"

Snape collapsed onto his table, roaring with laughter.

"Admit it, Pettigrew, you don't even know what you're talking about," Walsh said coldly. "Aconite and monkshood are the same plant, also known as Wolfsbane. One point from Gryffindor. You'll copy this chapter from your book ten times and you are to hand in to me in two days."

Peter looked as though he was about to dive under the table. James shot daggers at Snape and whispered something to Sirius. Sirius grinned knowingly and wrote down few words on a piece of parchment, then handed it to James.

"Now, Snape," Walsh said, turning to him, "instead of giggling stupidly, tell me which page of your Potions book shows the recipe of the Shrinking Solution?"

Snape looked triumphant and opened his mouth to answer; but instead of the expected answer, a big QUACK! came out. Snape turned very red as the Gryffindors burst out laughing. James high-fived Sirius under the table.

"I see some of you already know the Duck-Tongue Spell," said Walsh in her grating voice. "Would any of you know the counter-spell as well? I'm quite curious to see that ..."

Remus got up quietly and muttered few words. When he sat back, James and Sirius glared at him.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Are you mad? It's Severus Snape, in case you forgot!"

Remus just gave a mysterious smile and shook his head, "Just trust me on this one, ok?"

Snape gave the right answer, then shot a despising look at Peter, James and Sirius.

The class passed slowly; then the bell rang it over, and everybody got up to walk out of the classroom -- save Snape. He just sat there, and you could tell by his scared face that he had absolutely no idea of what was going on.

"Well, Snape," said Walsh, "do you like my class so much you want to stay overtime?"

Snape looked up at her desperately. Sirius, James and Lily stopped at the doorstep.

"I'm -- I'm stuck!" Snape finally uttered. "Someone glued me to my chair!"

The Gryffindors shouted with laughter again as Walsh turned furiously to Remus, "That was a low trick, Lupin! I don't think it's funny! Another point from Gryffindor!"

Despite the loss of points, the four friends were still laughing as they arrived in Flitwick's classroom.

"I'll never doubt you again, pal," Sirius said, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. "Gosh, Snape's face when he realised he was glued on his chair!"

"Priceless!" said James, grinning broadly.

"How'd you do it?" Peter asked admiringly.

As a result, they were all in a very good mood during the whole Charms class, despite Flitwick telling them they wouldn't make objects fly before October. They just opened their books and began at the beginning -- theory lessons. Mundungus was right: Flitwick needed a good pile of books to be able to see over his desk. But he put such an enthusiasm in his lessons that nobody felt like laughing at him.

During lunch, Sirius, James, and Remus talked with animation about the new Transfiguration teacher. Everyone wondered if she was as strict as she looked -- and she was a new teacher! There hadn't been a new teacher at Hogwarts for a long time according to Vega.

"I bet she's just as scared as we are," Remus said.

"Oh, because you're scared?" James joked. "You don't look so, you know."

"Maybe she just looks strict, and she's nice."

"We'll see that," pointed out Sirius. "Maybe she's just as mean as Walsh is."

"Well, as you said, we'll see!" Lily was the optimistic one.

When they reached Transfiguration classroom, the teacher wasn't there yet. It gave the students time to settle down, then the door snapped shut and Professor McGonagall stalked in. She put her briefcase on her desk, and looked intently at the students over her square glasses.

"Although I'm new here, I don't want you to think I can't handle a class. Whoever makes an uproar during my class will be expelled from here without return."

Then her voice softened slightly, and she went on, "My name is Minerva McGonagall, and I'm here to teach you the art of Transfiguration. I know this art is complicated and difficult; it won't be an easy thing, but if you pay a little attention to classes, everything will just be fine."

James, Sirius, Remus, Lily, and the others could only listen carefully after such an introduction. Sirius buried his chin in his hands and stared at McGonagall with a blissful look on his face as Remus chewed on his quill almost unconsciously.

"And I warn little jokers," McGonagall added sternly, "first prank, and I turn the prankster into a camel -- or something else."

As if to demonstrate what she could do to any student who dared pull a prank, she turned her desk into a brown and white spotted cow. She waited a few seconds for effect, and then waved her wand to bring the desk back. James gave a start, Remus dropped his quill, and Sirius straightened up. Transfiguration as a punishment was supposed to be forbidden, but better not to risk anything.

As they walked out once the class dismissed, the students sounded enthusiastic -- even Peter. It was true that, while Walsh didn't spare anyone, McGonagall would rather encourage.

But James, Sirius, and Remus's favourite class was, by far, flying lessons. James already knew how to hand a broom and fly, and Remus had some notions, but Sirius had never held a broomstick in his whole life -- anyway, not a magical one. However, the threesome revealed themselves to be rather good, along with Lisa Dodger and Charlie McKinnon. Madam Hooch, the teacher, gave them one rare smile, and told them that if they paid special attention to flying lessons, they would certainly be able to join Gryffindor Quidditch team next year. They just had to work a bit on their "style". Remus raised his eyebrows at the word, while a quizzical smile stirred James's lips and Sirius almost fell off his broom with laughter. He barely believed it.

History of Magic was the most boring class they'd ever seen. Arnold Weasley didn't exaggerate when he said Professor Binns bored everybody stiff. It wasn't only the fact that nobody was really interested in the Great Goblins Rebellion, but Binns spoke quite monotonously. For some obscure reasons, History of Magic always fell in the early afternoon for the Gryffindor first years. Binns' tone of voice only added to the afternoon torpor, and they had to fight hard not to fall asleep.

The only class that could outdo History of Magic in tediousness was, curiously enough, Defence Against the Dark Arts. Professor Rebus Ricochet believed in theory and bookish knowledge, and he warned his students from the very start that practical lessons would be quite rare in his class.

"Defence against dark creatures, different curses or hexes require something other than a magic wand and a stroke of luck. It demands a great knowledge of everything related to the Dark Arts, and you'll gain this knowledge listening to my class and completing it by reading as many books as you can. I'll ask you to leave your wand in your bag whenever you come into this classroom."

Fergus Finnigan, who said he had already fought a troll, was furious at the end of the class.

"How does he want us to fight a thing like that with a book?" he thundered forth after he told his story for the umpteenth time. "Yeah, 'theory, only theory'... Blimey, we also have to learn defence!"

"A book can also be useful," Lily slipped in, though looking disappointed too. "As Flitwick said, 'nothing's the practice without theory basis'."

"Don't worry about that," said Sirius as he tried to stuff his Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection in his bag, "this book's so heavy it'd stun at least two trolls."

In spite of her little disappointment in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Lily discovered delightfully she did manage rather well. Charms, in particular, fascinated her, and she was one of the firsts to handle practical lessons. In Potions, Walsh intimidated her, and she almost didn't dare raise her hand in fear of bringing the terrible teacher's wrath upon her. Sirius and maybe Snape were the only ones who didn't care about Walsh's acid comments. In fact, Sirius seemed impervious to bad moods. However, James noticed that the more the teachers pointed out Vega's excellence, the more his friend scowled.

"C'mon, James, it's not my fault," Vega exclaimed when James told her about it. "I feel sorry about Si, honestly I do, but he has to build his own personality anyway, it can only be a good thing for him."

James was not that sure. But as Vega looked as if she had made up her mind, he didn't insist and just reassured Sirius in his -- rare -- bitter moments.

However, it seemed that Sirius wasn't the only one to have family problems. Two weeks or so after the start of term, Remus, looking worried and rather tired, told his friends he'd be absent for a couple of days. His mum was ill, and he preferred go back home briefly with the Headmaster's consent. Lily thought she could reassure him because her father was a doctor. She asked Remus about his mum's illness, but he was not able to describe the symptoms of any particular illness.

When he came back the day after, at about the end of the afternoon, he was very pale -- more than usual -- and looked tired and ill. The four others, worried, wanted to ask him what was wrong, and what they could do -- but he just shook his head with a faint smile, and said he'd been sick on the train during the journey back and that his mum was better. James, Sirius, and Lily wondered for few days, then the story was forgotten and things went back to normal.

A sort of routine had already set in: once you knew where you were supposed to go and especially which way you were supposed to go, Hogwarts wasn't that impressive. Potions took place in the dungeons, Astronomy in North Tower, the Herbology greenhouses were behind the castle, almost on the grounds. In between, there was a maze of doors, corridors and classrooms. In the middle of it was Adams, and you never knew where he would turned up to catch you.

Sirius and James had already found the Slytherin common room. They spent their whole free time trying to find the password to sneak in and do what seemed natural to them -- pulling pranks. While they were frustrated by not getting in, they made up for it in Potions, flying classes -- poor Snape didn't look great on a broom -- and Herbology. It was so easy. They just had to throw a Filibuster's firework in someone's cauldron, put a Dungbomb in someone's bag, or slip a frog in a Slytherin girl's robes -- that was Sirius's specialty. First time he managed it was in Herbology class. Mira Katapan, a Slytherin girl he sat behind, who had a viper's tongue, jumped and shrieked enough to make everyone's blood run cold. Sprout dropped the pot she was holding.

"Miss Katapan? What's the matter?"

"I've got -- somebody slipped -- I've got something on my neck!!"

Professor Sprout took a firm step, looked down in her collar and took out a fidgety, still very wet and very green frog. The sight of it got a delighted "Aaaah!" from the Gryffindors and a disgusted "Yuck!!" from the Slytherins. Mira Katapan shuddered in disgust and Snape glared daggers at Sirius, who was laughing so hard he was crying.

It was a good beginning. But it was only the beginning.

In no time, it turned out that Lily's special field was Charms. And it took little time to James, Sirius, and Remus -- who was a good prankster too -- to realise that Lily was good at Charms. One night near the end of September, as the Gryffindors was gathered in their common room before going up to bed, the four boys -- James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter -- stayed a while before going up to their dormitory. While Sirius was softly strumming a little tune on his guitar, under Peter's admiring stare -- he wished he could do something like this -- James and Remus went to Lily who was muttering the formula of the Levitation Spell to get used to it.

"Wing-gar-dium Leviosa -- no, wait, it's Win-gar-dium Levi-o-sa -- Blimey, I'll never handle that if I can't even pronounce properly ..."

"Lily?"

"Uh?"

Lily looked up and saw James and Remus standing in front of her, smiling in an almost angelic sort of way. She frowned, "What do you want, exactly?"

"We need the benefit of your wisdom, dear Lily," Remus said, bowing courteously.

"Yeah, we'd like to learn something from you," James added.

Lily looked at each other in surprise, "You're not serious, are you? Gryffindor's two brightest would 'like to learn something' from a little Muggle-born girl like me? Quite a mess you must be in."

"Actually," rectified Remus, without paying attention to Sirius who had started whistling behind their backs, grinning evilly, "we'd like to know whether --"

"-- if you would like to help us --"

"-- pulling a little, tiny, big --"

"-- Prank on Snape."

"That's it."

"Quite."

It almost sounded like a two-man comedy act.

Lily shut her book, laid her hands on the table, and looked at them straight in the eye.

"So then, does that mean that these gentlemen have had enough of throwing Dungbombs in the corridors, making cauldrons melt, or slipping frogs in the girls' collars?"

She glanced at Sirius as she said that. Then she looked back at the two others, and a smile formed on her lips. "It's always a delight knowing that you're needed."

"So -- all right?"

"Yeah, all right, provided that Mister I'm-Hiding-In-The-Corner-Over-There-But-Still-Laughing-Under-My-Breath comes and begs for my help, too."

In a second's time, Sirius had gingerly put his guitar down; in two seconds time he strode cross the room, and in three seconds he was at Lily's feet bawling, "Oh, please, kind and fair lady! Do help us, for we are in a great distress -- we need a muse to inspire us!"

Lily suppressed a fit of laughter, and answered in a strangled voice, "It's now totally all right."

"Do we begin tomorrow then?" James asked casually.

"Why tomorrow?" Lily's sparkling green eyes were shining. "We can do it now!"

Remus stared wide-eyed at Lily. James and Sirius grinned mischievously at each other.

"Lily dear -- dearest Lily, we never would've doubted that --"

"That you guys didn't have the monopoly of pulling pranks? I may not spend my time spying on the Slytherins, but I've got one idea or two of my own about the question."

"So what do we do, then?"

"We wait for everybody to be in bed and we go towards the library."

"Uh? Come again?"

Lily sighed, "I know a book about everyday spells, curses and hexes, easy to use but redoubtable if you know how to use them well. And it's hidden somewhere round there."

"Who told you about that book?"

Lily shrugged. "Mundungus."

"Fletcher? The traitor! He'd promised to tell us his secret --"

"You just don't know persuasion."

"And how did you persuaded him?"

Lily beamed, "I promised I'd say a few words about him to your sister, Sirius."

Sirius looked both scandalised and disgusted.

"Why do you pull such a face, Sirius?" Remus asked with a lopsided grin.

"Blimey, she's my sister -- she's Vega -- she's a prefect ... and to think she -- yuck! I wasn't serious when I teased her 'bout that -- so then, she does get chatted up, doesn't she? And top of it, the guy's the Great Mundungus Fletcher?"

"He's not that great, he's two years younger than her," pointed out Lily.

"All the same ... poor bloke, I do feel sorry for him ... mooning over my sister ...'

Lily peered at Sirius with her head tilted to one side, looking comically melancholy, "You know, Sirius, I do understand the feeling. Well, let's get down here at eleven -- right?"

"Eleven, right."

"See you, then!"

When they got up in their dormitory, Sirius put his guitar in its case with great precautions. James lay on his back in his bed and Remus picked up a book he had in his trunk. The threesome wondered how they'd get rid of Peter -- he would be the only one staying in the dormitory, and even if he really wasn't one to notice everything around him, that could seem funny to anyone.

The appointed time was getting dangerously closer, and the three boys began worrying, when Peter turned to them, with a mix of fear and determination on his round face, "I heard you back in the common room."

Remus put down his book, Sirius put down his guitar case, and James sat up. "What?"

"With Lily. You'll get into serious troubles if Adams catches you. Besides, Sirius, your sister's a prefect, if she catches you she may well get you a Howler."

"A what?"

"A rocket you receive by mail at breakfast in front of the whole school."

"OK, I got it. So then, what's your point?"

Peter's eyes lightened, "Let me come with you."

"Why that, Peter?" Remus said, frowning.

"Snape hasn't stopped bullying me from the very first day," Peter said in a begging sort of voice, "I -- I've had enough, I want to show him I'm better than he thinks! Plus I'm fed up with his repeating me I have no friends!"

James, Sirius and Remus consulted each other with few glances, then James turned to Peter.

"OK, come, but not one word, right?"

"I'll be quieter than a Flobberworm," Peter assured. Sirius said "Hm" importantly, although he had no idea of what a Flobberworm could be.

They found Lily again down in the common room. She raised an eyebrow to Peter but didn't say anything. Then they walked out of the common room after telling the Fat Lady the password.

In spite of the numerous attempts at pranks the three of them had already cooked up, James had never found himself out of bounds so late in the night yet. They could bump into Peeves at anytime, or worse, Adams, who had the regrettable and dangerous habit of turning up behind your back without a warning. The threesome already had had to deal with him, but Lily and Peter had never had any detention yet -- they didn't know the cold sweat running down the back of anyone who got unlucky enough to be caught red-handed by Brutus Adams. He would take the culprit up by his collar and easily lift him up -- he must be at least six feet two inches tall --, peering at the poor student with his cold, dark eyes, deeply set in his skull, muttering curses that would make anyone shiver.

James wondered -- and he wasn't the only one -- how Mundungus Fletcher, 'Fletch', managed not to be afraid of that guy. It was one of the reasons that Sirius admired him most. Sirius didn't envy Fletcher -- he just wanted to be his equal in their common field. That was why, as he tiptoed in James's shadow, Sirius's eyes glittered much more than usual. He loved the wild throbbing of his heart and the shiver that ran down his spine as he prowled around the Hogwarts corridors by night. We must be naturals, he thought as he watched James, Remus and Lily who had the same glitter in their eyes. Natural prowlers, at least.

Lily stopped, and walked to the wall. She pushed the picture of a crow, and turned to the boys, her eyes sparkling, "If Mundungus told me the truth, the book's in there."

The five of them peered at the hole -- but they were quite disappointed.

The hole was empty.

Well, it almost was.

Lily, suppressing a vexed curse, took out the piece of parchment that lay instead of the expected book and unfolded it:

Dear Lily -- or whoever finds this parchment,

You didn't really think I would give you one of the keys of my success like this, just because you did me a favour, did you? If you want my book, you'll have to search about for it!

"Gee!" Sirius exclaimed almost aloud. "That's not fair, damn cheater!"

"Sshh," James said, as he leaned over Lily's shoulder again in order to read the rest.

No, don't sulk. Come on, smile. Now, that's better. Well, I'll give you a hint. It's outside, in a small hiding place --

"Again? It's not a joke this time, is it?" muttered Peter. "We can't go outside now, it's cold!"

"Sshh," Sirius said.

"You've got some cheek to say that.'

"Shush!"

All I can tell you is that it's at the foot of the coldest tower of the castle, with the Great Dog keeping an eye on it. Now, if you don't guess with all these clues, then you're a desperate case...

Good luck!

P.S.: in case you didn't notice, I'm a bit of a joker ...

"The 'coldest tower of the castle'?" Peter moaned. "And 'outside'? We aren't going now, are we?"

"Duh, of course we're going!"

"Oh, no ..."

"Wait, you wanted to go with us, didn't you? Hey!"

Lily let out a small cry and dropped the parchment that had started to burn. James frowned as Sirius cursed Fletcher under his breath admiringly. When the parchment had burnt out, ashes swirled up into the air, then vanished abruptly.

"Self-Igniting Spell," recognised James in a bitter voice. "Destroys a parchment as soon as you've finished reading it."

"James," Remus said in a dreamy voice, as Lily pushed the small door shut, looking disappointed too, "there are four main towers at Hogwarts, aren't there?"

"Yeah, east, west, north and south. Which one do you think is the coldest?"

"Well, I think it's obvious."

James, Sirius and Peter stared at Lily intently. Remus alone smiled understandingly. She shrugged, "Which cardinal point do you think is the coldest? South, maybe?"

"The Astronomy Tower," James exclaimed in a low voice, "the North Tower, of course ... we're idiots ..."

And before Peter could add a word, the five of them were gone to the nearest exit.

Once outside, Sirius wished he had took his cloak with him. The wind was cold, and he shivered in his pyjamas. However, he tried not to show it and walked faster to remain level with the others. At least, they didn't have to be afraid of Adams or Peeves while they were outside, and that was already a good point.

The North Tower was the tower closest to the Forbidden Forest. While the five budding adventurers sneaked through the night toward the foot of the tower, the Forest was becoming nearer and nearer, darker and darker, and more and more menacing. As they reached the foot of the tower, Peter stopped suddenly.

"Did -- did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Lily asked as she turned to him.

"Dunno, a -- a sound!"

"Don't worry, Peter," Sirius joked. "That must be my stomach. I mustn't have eaten enough tonight, I guess."

"No, it wasn't that kind of noise," Peter breathed in a shaky voice. "I think --"

"What do you think it was?" James asked curiously.

"I think it was -- a werewolf."

Three fits of laughter cut through the night.

"Blimey, Peter! I didn't know you had such a sense of humour, you know?" Sirius cried, splitting his sides with laughter.

"C'mon, Peter, don't worry," said Remus's voice from somewhere in the dark. "We're here to protect you, you know that, don't you?"

Was it just a feeling, or did James feel something slightly odd in this reassuring voice?

"You don't have to be afraid of a werewolf tonight anyway," said Lily in a kind but firm tone. "Everybody knows they transform only when the moon is full. Come on, look around you, see any werewolf here?"

Peter shook his head, still uneasy. Sirius shrugged, and said, "Besides, if you're scared, you can still go back to the dormitory without us."

"No, not alone!"

Peter's cry came straight from his heart. Then he corrected rather sheepishly, "I -- I'm a bit afraid right now, that's true, but if I bump into Adams, what could I tell him?"

When they arrived at the very foot of the tower, Lily recited the riddle aloud.

"So then, here's the 'coldest tower of the castle'. But what's that 'Great Dog' thing?"

"Maybe Hagrid's," James remarked. "Vega said he'd got a 'huge hound'."

"Nope, there wouldn't be capital letters here ..."

Sirius was jumping up and down to warm himself up. Lily ignored him, thinking he only wanted to get attention, and rummaged about in the wild grasses growing at the foot of the tower. Then she let out a little cry of joy, and stepped aside: a big stone sheet was engraved in the worn-out stone. And there were drawings ...

"What's that thing?"

"Oh," exclaimed Remus, "that's the symbols of the constellations. Look, here's Orion the Hunter, Draco ... Ursa Major and Minor ..."

James, Remus and Sirius -- who was still gesticulating as much, now with chattering teeth -- helped Lily clear the sheet of grass out of the way, then stepped back.

"It's 'Great Dog', isn't it? What's -- Sirius, just stop fidgeting like this, you're not helping here!"

"It's n--not my f--fault if I'm c--c--cold!" cried Sirius in a shaky voice, between two episodes of chattering teeth. James gazed at him oddly, then at Lily, then back at Sirius, and exclaimed in a low voice, "Lily, you are a genius!"

"Am I?" Lily said, baffled. "Well, thanks --"

James took a step forward and cleared the symbol of Canis Major; he pushed it, as Lily had pushed the crow, and the sheet opened. Remus, Lily and Sirius got closer, eyes shining.

"Let's just hope it's worth while," Remus whispered, ignoring Peter's frightened little squeaks behind them. James leaned over and took the hidden old book; he blew the dust off, and read Three Thousand, Two Hundred and One Tricks of All Kinds.

"I bet it's worth while," Sirius whispered back. "Totally cool."

"B--b --but -- l--"

"What now, Peter?"

"L--look ov--over there --"

James turned around, and even in the dark Lily could see him changing colour. She asked worriedly, "James? What's wrong?"

Without a word, James pointed shakily to the Forest. An enormous, weird-coloured animal was charging at them. Remus and Sirius turned about in turn; Remus opened his mouth, but didn't managed to let out a sound, while Sirius, his eyes bulging, breathed, "Oh dear --"

"Let's get out of here!" James hissed, finally finding the use of his voice again.

The next second, they were all running in the same direction -- not that they knew which one -- the faster they could, hotly pursued by the beast whose hoarse breath they could hear right behind them. Pure terror winged their feet, and no one looked where they ran -- until James stumbled and crumbled to the ground. Sirius caught him by one arm and half lifted him, to help him up on his feet again, but it was too late: the animal leaped at them.

Remus turned round at once and started running to where his friends had fallen just as fast as he was running two seconds before in the opposite direction, closely followed by Lily. Out of breath, with his throat choked by anguish and his heart pounding, he stopped and tried to see through the dark. He only made out the vague outline of the gigantic thing, its somewhat yellow colour making a rather sharp contrast with the darkness around.

"Help! Gerroff me, get off I said!"

This time, no doubt was possible. It was James's voice. Remus ran to the beast, grasped bravely what seemed to be its head and pulled it back as hard as he could. A whining could be heard, then a familiar voice boomed out only a few feet from them, "Back, Curly! Down! Leave 'em alone!"

Half puzzled and half relieved, Remus and Lily watched the huge outline of Hagrid striding toward them, holding a lantern. In its glimmer, Remus saw that the beast was a great yellowish dog, backing up whimpering, glancing up at him almost reproachfully. James sat up on his elbows, and Sirius wiped away the dog's slobber covering his face.

"Don' be mad at him," Hagrid said, as he helped up the two of them. "He migh' look fierce, but he wouldn't hurt a fly even if it bit him. He only wants teh play."

James's legs weren't steady yet. Peter was shaking like mad, Lily was shivering in spite of the heat from the running, and Sirius was still chatting teeth. Hagrid glanced them over, then said with a nod, "Come, yeh'll catch yer death if yeh stay here."

The four kids followed Hagrid to his hut. He had them sit on a huge bed covered with a patchwork counterpane, then he started making tea.

"I know yeh two," he said to Sirius and James as he handed a smoking cup to each one. "You're the two boys who fell into the lake back in that firs' night. Yeh're James Potter, and you -- you must be Altaïr Llevellyn's boy -- yeh've got yer mum's eyes. Yer name's Sirius, isn't it?"

Sirius nodded. Hagrid gave a broad smile.

"I knew yer mum, yeh know. Very kind she was, and a pretty girl. And as fo' you -- yeh must be Remus Lupin."

Remus looked surprised.

"How'd you know our names?"

"Eh, I was at the Sorting, wasn' I? And Professor Ricochet told me 'bout yeh -- only firs'-year keen on Defence Agains' the Dark Arts. And even Hist'ry o' Magic, I heard."

Remus gave a lopsided grin. Hagrid took a sip on his tea, then turned to Lily.

"Lily Evans, Muggle-born, aren't yeh? Professor Flitwick spoke well 'bout you, impressed, he was. Yeh don't seem lost at all, for a Muggle-born, no offence."

"Nope," said Lily, shaking her head, "it's all right. It's great to be here -- we learn so many things ..."

Lily and James winked at each other. Then Hagrid turned to Peter. The boy hadn't drunk his tea yet, and was sitting rather stiffly on the bed.

"Well, what's the matter here? Not because o' him, is it?"

He pointed Curly, who had his head rested on Lily's lap; she was stroking him gently, not paying attention to the fact that he was cheerfully slobbering on her robes.

"He's not gonna eat you, yeh know. What's yer name?"

"Peter Pettigrew," said Peter, a bit upset to be the only one whose name Hagrid didn't know.

Once the six cups emptied, Hagrid frowned at them, "Now, tell me wha' yeh was doin' round here? It's very dangerous, goin' outside by night, especially these days!"

The five kids looked at each other. They hadn't thought of an excuse that would explain it all. Then Remus spoke.

"We couldn't sleep, so we got down to the common room; Lily was there as well, she couldn't sleep too. She was reading her Standard Book of Spells. We talked for a while, then one of us -- don't remember who -- wanted to go to the toilets, so we came along with him, it's so easy to get lost in those blasted corridors. Peeves noticed us, and he though it was, ER -- amusing -- to make us go through an odd door that opened right onto the grounds. We landed at the foot of the North Tower, and Curly spotted us. We got scared, so we ran without thinking."

Remus had spoken in one go, without thinking and almost without breathing; when he finished, the four others had an admiring look in their eyes.

"Hm," said Hagrid dubiously, "right, let's say it's forgotten fer now. Curly scared yeh enough, I guess. But watch out from now on -- it coulda bin anythin' but Curly that leapt on yeh, an' I won' always be here ter watch over careless kids goin' out at ungodly hours. Was tea good?"

Five heads nodded.

"Right, I'll get yeh back to yer common room," said Hagrid as he got up. "Yeh don' feel like explaining it all to Adams if you bump into, I guess?"

They met the caretaker indeed, as they tiptoed along the corridors. Hagrid explained the whole story to Adams, who, judging by his delighted expression, was already seeing the five students hanging by the feet down in a dungeon. But Hagrid glared at him, and despite the venomous look that lingered in his own cold eyes, Adams didn't insist. Being ten feet tall has its advantages.

Hagrid bid them goodnight at the door of their common room. The Fat Lady was slightly amazed, but let them in after they said the password. They found again the cosy, round little room with joy, and collapsed into soft armchairs.

"All the same," breathed Sirius, "all this mess for one book -- I'm gonna kill Fletcher."

Peter let out a small approving noise. He was still shaken.

"Besides, I bet we lost it while we were running," James sighed. "All this work for nothing ..."

He stopped when he met Lily's big, sparkling green eyes: she was grinning broadly, despite the tiredness painted all over her face. Slowly, she picked something out from her cloak -- Three Thousand, Two Hundreds and One Tricks of all Kinds. Three faces literally lit up.

"Haven't I told you Lily was a genius?" James cried enthusiastically.

"YEAH!!"

It would have been difficult to say which boy was the happiest one. Lily blushed almost of the shade of her dark flame-coloured hair.

*~*~*~*~*