The Last Day

The Last Day

The Hogwarts students were all gathered in the Great Hall. There was so much crowd and noise that the Hall did not look at all as though a graduating ceremony was taking place there. And there was the loud buzz of voices as all the students had wanted to hear their new Hogwarts graduates especially their beloved Head Boy and Head Girl, James Potter and Lily Evans make their speeches.

But Isabella Rhodes, Lily's best friend, popularly known as Izzy, couldn't see what was so special about these speeches. Lily and James loved giving speeches, and had made almost a dozen speeches just that year. They took their jobs seriously. Very seriously. Izzy couldn't say she hadn't enjoyed every one of their speeches, though. They were very talented at it.

This year the staff had combined the Leaving Feast and Graduating Ceremony, so that the seniors could make their speeches before the whole school. The four house tables had been removed and set at a corner, with the food for the feast and the Great Hall was scattered with groups of chairs, so that students could mingle more freely with other houses on their last day. Izzy was seated between Remus and Sirius, when Lily and James joined them after all the seventh years had finished their speeches. Peter, too, joined them, his arms loaded with refreshments from the tables.

"Hiya," said James, taking the chair opposite Izzy and pulling the doughnut from which Sirius had been about to take a bite.

"Hey!" Sirius said angrily, and snatched it back.

"Oh, sorry, Padfoot, old thing," said James and took another from the bag Sirius had on his lap. "What's wrong? Why the long face?"

He didn't reply. The others didn't seem to notice anything, and helped themselves to the refreshments Peter had brought. The food seemed to be disappearing fast and Peter occasionally eyed the empty plates wistfully and glanced at the tables, where Sadie Reeves, a mouse-like girl he had always had a soft spot for, though he was terrified of being in the same room with her, let alone asking her out, was chatting with her friend, Naomi McLeod.

"Jeez," said Sirius suddenly, throwing up his hands. "I can't believe you guys. We're leaving Hogwarts. We're LEAVING!! And all you guys do is eat?"

"Now, that's a bit harsh, mate," said Remus, brushing the crumbs off his robes. "Seeing as you were stuffing your face yourself a while back."

Sirius just scowled. "You lot ..." his voice trailed away.

Peter nervously chewed his nails.

Izzy sighed exasperatedly. "Did you have to say that out loud? It's a bit hard to digest."

"Could we change the subject please?" said Remus, with a sick expression on his face.

But Lily ignored him and said thoughtfully, "Come to think of it... I'm not feeling too good today myself." Her expression changed to one of panic, when realization dawned on her. "We- we're going out of school, into the real world. We're going out there!" She waved her hands towards the sunlit windows, indicating the real world in general.

This outburst was too much for Peter. He let out a terrified squeak.

Izzy couldn't take it anymore. "OK, we really do need a change of subject. Everyone, talk about something else," she ordered.

The five teenagers stared at her doubtfully. She stared back at them resolutely.

"So, er... who d'you think is gonna be the next Gryffindor Quidditch Captain?" asked James, hoping to start a light conversation.

But Lily grabbed the bag of doughnuts from Sirius and bopped him on the head with it.

"I want today's conversation to be Quidditch-free. I am sick of it popping up in the convo all day and everyday. And I don't want to hear about ways to hex Severus Snape, too," she said, looking pointedly at Sirius.

James took a doughnut from the bag and tossed it at Sirius. It hit him square in the face.

"All right!" exclaimed Sirius joyfully, coming out of his petulance. "Food fight!"

He took a piece of the cake leftover from the one Peter had bought and pressed it all over Remus's face. Remus retaliated by pouring a glass of lemonade on him. James tackled Peter with more cake and Peter chucked grape juice at him. The girls, too, joined them in a moment of insanity. So did a number of their classmates and a group of twittering girls who were usually around when the Marauders were.

It didn't take long for Professor McGonagall to reach them. In fact, it seemed as though she took just two seconds to wind her way through the messily arranged chairs in the Hall.

As suddenly as it had started, everything came to a standstill, as all watched with bated breath, wondering what she was going to say, though they could sort of guess it anyway.

" Oh no, oh no... this is it. I'm going to be expelled." Lily muttered under her breath.

Izzy stepped on her foot and muttered," We're leaving anyway, silly."

A small 'oh' was her only response, as they waited apprehensively for the bombshell to fall.

"I'm going to miss you all," Minerva McGonagall said, smiling.

For a second, the teenagers remained stunned when she said this out-of-character line. Then, the next moment, there was uproar, as the students hugged McGonagall and each other. Even the students from other years joined in for their share of hugs. The teachers at the staff table laughed and shook their heads at this emotional reunion.

That was when Lily started crying. She couldn't help it. On seeing this, Izzy's eyes started leaking happy tears too.

This was too much for Sirius. He whipped out his handkerchief and pretended to sob into it hysterically, his shoulders shaking.

"I'm sorry everyone," said Sirius in a 'tearful' voice. "I can't bear it! This is so, so emotional." Some of the girls shrieked with laughter at this, which made him exaggerate even more.

Until Lily hit him with a tickling charm, that is. He rolled around the floor, giggling hysterically with laughter, clutching his sides. By now, everyone was standing around him and laughing, even the teachers. The rest of the Marauders hooted and yelled with laughter at this sight, not thinking of rescuing their fellow Marauder from the plight of the Evans wrath. They would, of course, be punished for this lack of loyalty, by the victim, though not too hard maybe, depending upon the sufferer's view on the situation.

"As much as it pains me to do so, Miss Evans," said a deep, amused voice out of the blue. "I have to remove this charm. We don't want Mr. Black, here, to leave Hogwarts with aching sides, do we?"

Everyone turned around to see Albus Dumbledore, as tall and majestic as ever, remove Lily's charm with a flick of his wand. Sirius scrambled to his feet, and the Hogwarts students got to see a rare sight - Sirius Black blushing.

"Excellent charm work, by the way," Dumbledore said to Lily with a wink and she, too, turned beet red.

Then, to the gathering, he said," It is time for me to give a speech, ladies and gentlemen. But it will not hamper your celebration. I would just like to say - enjoy, but be cautious. That is all," he said, smiling, as all the students applauded. "And now, on account of the looming of the sad departure of our popular and much loved seventh year, and the good temper of all the teachers, including myself, I give you all permission to celebrate the graduation of the seventh years - with all the other classes - in the Great Hall!" he announced.

The applause at this was deafening. In fact, thought Izzy, as she reflected back on this day, many days later, it had been one of the happiest days of the seventh year. All through the morning, they danced, sang, ate and even played games. They enjoyed themselves immensely, though absolutely no plans had been made for a party and all the teachers were still at the staff table. Caradoc Dearborn, a muggle-born sixth year, provided entertainment with muggle 'magic' tricks, at which they all laughed, scorned and wolf-whistled at, but still had great fun with.

When McGonagall finally got up at one to say that the carriages had arrived and the train simply couldn't wait any longer (Dumbledore had delayed its departure), some of the younger girls burst into tears. Izzy took in as much of the scene as possible for reminiscence. Even the usually hyper Marauders seemed down in the dumps when they were told to get their trunks.

"So - this is it, then," Lily said to Izzy, as the two stepped out of the castle, onto the grounds with their trunks. The moment they had all been dreading since the start of the year had come at last."

"Uh-huh," said Izzy, her eyes getting misty. "Goodbye time." She gulped hard to swallow down the burning feeling in her throat.

Lily's cheeks were already streaming with tears as they stepped out into the grounds and looked back at the castle, which had been their home for seven unforgettable years. Those going past them whispered goodbye to them and moved on hurriedly.

Meanwhile, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter dragged their trunks onto the grounds. The girls hurriedly wiped away their tears when they saw the foursome approaching.

"Hey, Evans!" called Sirius, joining the girls. "You're going to pay for that charm."

"Yeah, right," muttered Lily distractedly.

"Shut up, Sirius," said James, noticing Lily and Izzy's tear-stained cheeks. They, too, turned around and stood admiring the castle. It looked as beautiful as ever in the hot, bright sunshine, which made leaving easier said than done.

"I hate to say this," spoke Remus at last, his voice sounding a bit weak. "But the train's going to leave soon. Shall we go?"

Sirius took a deep breath. James put an arm around him and led them to the train. They were the last ones to board the train, and to their surprise, they found a major part of the staff on the platform, waiting to send them off.

"We couldn't resist," said Professor Slughorn, the Potions master, shrugging and smiling sheepishly. The teachers made it, if possible, harder for them to say goodbye to the castle.

"Do you think," muttered Sirius to James as they boarded the train, "that they've all been Imperiused? I've never seen an odder group of teachers."

James looked back at the teachers, who were waving furiously at them.

"Not on your life," he said grinning widely.

*****