The Marauders: The Legend Before Harry Potter

The Marauders: The Legend Before Harry Potter

The Second Year

Chapter Five

A Matter of Quidditch

"Hogwarts express, leaving in ten minutes!" someone in a royal blue uniform called as he walked by the dazzlingly bright red steam engine. The platform of Nine and Three Quarters was buzzing with the usual excitement and laughter as the many Hogwarts students boarded the train to go back to their beloved school.

"Give your mumsy a kiss now, Peter," said a squat woman in a velvet sun dress, squatting down next to Peter Pettigrew. Peter gave his mother a quick, embarrassed kiss before heading off, rolling his burgundy trunk behind him. His mother was still waving after him for minutes, despite the fact that Peter had his back turned to her. It wasn't long before the young boy spotted the sandy haired Remus Lupin, dressed casually in a white shirt and tan colored pants neatly pressed. He was sitting on his tattered brown trunk, his legs crossed, nose buried in a book, completely oblivious to the hustle and bustle around him.

"Oh, hallo' Remus!" said peter, tapping the boy on the shoulder. He looked up, blinking, and smiled.

"Hi Peter! How did the summer treat you?"

"Rather good, but I'm glad it's over; I was getting bored of doing nothing but sleeping and eating. And what about you?"

"Oh...just as tiring as ever," Remus said, not dwelling much on the subject. He put his little book in his breast pocket and gripped the handle of his trunk and stood up, stretching. "Seen James or Sirius yet?"

Peter shook his head, looking around, trying to spot the dark heads of either of the boys through the noisy throng of people. "No, I haven't. Wait--look, there's Sirius!"

"Come on, let's go talk to him then," said Remus and they both ran, dodging people here and then, when they finally caught up with Sirius, who was leaning casually against the train and talking to a boy, nearly as tall as Sirius, with unmistakable disheveled hair.

"Hi James. Hi Sirius." James and Sirius turned around and grinned when they saw Remus and Peter, both of them looking exactly as they had the last time they had seen them.

"Hey, mates! There you two are!" James said cheerfully. "What do you say, let's get a good compartment before they're all taken?" And, the four united once again, hurried up the train steps, their massive trunks lagging behind them. They found an empty compartment near the end of the trolley and took their seat, kicking their feet up on the spaces in front of them.

"Look--I got a toad!" Remus suddenly exclaimed. He held up an old box and opened it to reveal what looked like a huge green rock with warts. "I found him in our back yard. Named 'im Petros. Well...mum named 'im that really..." As the boys crowded around to see inside the box, the compartment door slid open and Lily came in, Ezmerelda Bottle behind her. They hurried in and sat down. Lily had changed a lot over the summer; she had grown at least an inch and her hair was cut barely below her ear, making her look much prettier and more sophisticated. Ezmerelda, on the other hand, was even taller than Sirius, and her untamed hair of deep ebony was falling below her slender waist.

"'Morning. Good summer?" the red-head asked brightly.

"Yeah," they all replied in chorus.

"Well, that's a lot of information given..." Lily said cheerfully. "Ezmerelda and myself were wondering if any of you were going to try out for the Quidditch team, because we're thinking of taking a chance."

"Lily, you'd make a great Quidditch Player!" James said, smiling. "Nearly as good as myself...You would too, er, Ezmerlda." The dark haired girl beside Lily smiled slightly at James, though she could tell a huge drop in enthusiasm from his voice when he talked to her and not Lily.

"We were thinking we'd like to be Chasers. What about you James?"

"I've always wanted to be a chaser as well!" James said. "Maybe we'll both get to be chasers together!" Sirius eyed him shadily and rolled his eyes. James continued talking. "I'll try not to make too much a stunning impression when we audition--I wouldn't want to beat you to the position without giving you a fighting chance, Lily, now would I?" James put on a mock-sweet impression and was shocked when a glint of disgust flickered in Lily's eyes. She ignored him and turned to the other three.

"Sirius, Remus, Peter--what about you three?" Lily asked.

"Quidditch isn't for me," Sirius said, putting his arms behind him neck and leaning back in his seat, kicking his feet up on Lily's lap, who eyed him strangely. "I'd rather watch it than play it."

"Me too," Remus said.

"Me three," added Peter.

"Awwwww, spoiled sports," said Lily, casually taking Sirius' dirty feet from her lap and pushing them to the floor. "Well, we'll leave you guys alone now; we've got some talking to do." She smiled at them and left, Ezmerelda right behind her.

"That Ezmerelda's an eye-opener that's for sure!" Sirius said once the compartment door was closed. "I wouldn't mind seeing her play Quidditch..." He ran his tongue against his teeth, and this time it was James' turn to roll his eyes.

The afternoon on the train went by quickly as the boys talked endlessly about unimportant subjects that kept popping into their heads out of nowhere; before they knew it, the train had pulled to a stop. As the four piled off with the rest of the Hogwarts students, James pulled Sirius back by his collar and whispered to him so that Remus and Peter couldn't here.

"I've got something wicked to show you after dinner so remind me, okay?" he said slyly.

"Er, sure," Sirius said, looking curious.

***

The feast that night was spectacular, as expected, and the Gryffindors gained new and promising faces who were welcomed with grand applause, as did the three other houses.

James was eager to get back to the Common Rooms quickly to show Sirius what he had gotten over the summer and Sirius was just as anxious to see what James was so excited about. They left the feast several minutes early, after Dumbledore went over the usual school rules, and ran to their dormitory. James went straight to his trunk, shuffling through all his clothes, throwing things here and then until it seemed his whole wardrobe had been dumped everywhere ("I didn't know you wore red spotted knickers, James, is that what you wanted to show me?"), when James finally found what he was looking for. "Ah ha!" he said, pulling out a long silver robe that glistening like a slippery sheet. Sirius look unimpressed.

"Wow! Amazing! A piece of fabric! I think I'll go back to the Common Room now, James," Sirius said, jokingly. He turned around and put his hand to the doorknob and opened the door leading to the stairs just a crack. While his back was turned, James put on the cloak.

"Turn back 'round!" James demanded. Sirius so did and James wasn't there anymore.

"Okay...where'd you go?" Sirius said, smiling, frustrated. "Is this some kind of prank where you sneak up on someone and kick them in the--OW!" Something then felt oddly like a foot kicking him from behind. Sirius twirled around. "Hey, cut that out." James wasn't there. Spinning around in all directions, and still seeing no James, Sirius finally understood, and his eyes widened in amazement. "Merlin's beard...You're really invisible aren't you?"

"Of course I am, you doubting prat! It's an invisibility cloak!"

"Get out!" Sirius said, looking around for James, his voice filled with disbelief and awe. "Where can you get an invisibility cloak nowadays? There practically...well, extinct." James took off the cloak, looking proud.

"Mum gave it to me. Said it's been in her family for years. She wants me to keep it now, since she got it when she was twelve--as long as I use it wisely or whatever--and to give it to my children, and they'll give it to their children...Dad didn't think it was a good idea, but he's a bit protective. Mum wouldn't hear of not giving it to me."

"I want one!" Sirius said pleadingly as James took it off and handed it to him to admire. "This thing would be perfect for finding more secret passageways so I'll beat Andromeda."

"Andromeda's already out of Hogwarts, Sirius," James informed him.

"Yeah, but it took her seven years to find three secret passages and I'll have her beat before I'm thirteen!" Sirius said. "That is, if you'll let me use it..."

"Course I will!" James said. "Oh, I hear Peter and Remus coming up." Sirius threw James the cloak and he stuffed it back into his trunk. "I'm not going to tell them right away--especially Peter cause he'll probably tell everyone about it without realizing it."

"And he'd probably loose it if you ever let him borrow it," Sirius said with a grin.

A drastic change--drastic in Hogwarts standards, that is--had been made in the Professorial section of Hogwarts. McGonagall remained Transfiguration teacher and Dumbledore no longer had to teach a class and be the Headmaster at the same time. A man named Professor Flitwick had taken the Charms class. Flitwick, who was also the new head of Ravenclaw house, was a tiny little man, shorter than many of the students, with a high-pitched voice and merry nature. Apparently he had taught at Hogwarts before and had left for several years to travel across the world. Mrs. Yen was gone, to many student's disappointment and a young man named Professor Mussolini had taken her place. When the students, especially the girls, saw him though, with his young, kind face, and dark hair, they immediately forgot about the female teacher before. James wondered how long it would be before all the girls started swooning.

All the older teachers remained, most of them looking and acting exactly the way they had been last year--all except for Binns, who looked as though he had aged twenty years over the short summer.

Classes started and reviews of each subject began; soon everyone's brains were buzzing. Within the first week everything was as if the summer, and that everything was exactly the way it always was; except for the fact that James and his friends were no longer the youngest at Hogwarts. They could now explain things and tease the little first years, who looked up to the second-years as if they were gods.

"Hey--James!" Sirius called over everyone's heads in the halls one late afternoon. "Have you seen Remus? We've got a big essay to write together for Binns tomorrow and I can't find him anywhere."

"I haven't seen him. You sure he's not sick?" James said, going through the books in his bags absentmindedly.

"He seems healthy all the time and then--suddenly--he just disappears. I mean, he's a good guy, but he's...strange," Sirius said, making sure no one else was listening. "He seems to get sick once a month, or is that just my imagination?"

"No, that sounds about right to me," James replied, biting down on a quill. "Come on." They started to walk back to the Gryffindor Common Room. "Even Lily and others have realized it. Once a month, no more, no less, and usually about the same time, he just--leaves. And you know how he says he's sick? Well Peter just told me that last year he went to the Hospital Wing with a fever and Remus wasn't there when he said later that he was."

"Well, I think if he was our true friend he'd tell us," Sirius said bitterly, coming up to the portrait hole and saying, "Wishing Well." The fat lady swung her portrait open and they climbed in. "Sooner or later we'll find out and it's probably not even anything to keep secret. Maybe he has a monthly-influenza spell, it can't be anything serious."

"Okay Sirius. If you want, you find out what's ailing him and you can get mad and never speak to him again if it's not too personal and I'm going to bed."

"James, could I borrow that cloak, I'm wanting to go look under some more portraits," Sirius asked. He clasped his hands together and gave James a sad puppy look. "Please, please, please?"

"Sure; just don't loose it...or you're dead. Maybe you can go up to the hospital wing and see if you-know-who's in there." With that, James sighed and went off to get ready for the night.

So Sirius got the invisibility cloak, put it on, and wandered down the steps, waiting for someone to come in so he could slip through the portrait hole discreetly. It turned out that Peter was the one who opened it first, carrying sweets that he had probably stolen from a first year. Slipping past Peter, Sirius went quickly to the hospital wing and peered through the crack in the door and saw Remus sitting on one of the beds, legs dangling from the side, swinging back and forth. Sirius waved but realized he was invisible, so he stopped and then tiptoed into the room. The school nurse was walking from another door, and making her way towards where Remus sat.

"Okay Remus," she said, fastening a button on her sleeve. "Let's go."

"Erm...I think I can go by myself Madam Pomfrey," Remus said. "After doing it for a year I'm ready to go alone."

"But if the clouds shift...I'll need to go with you for now, since it's already dark," the woman said. "Just in case. It's for everyone's safety." Sirius was completely lost. Either both of them were just crazy, or they were talking in a secret code. Whatever they were talking about, Sirius wanted to follow them and find out for himself. He stepped away from the door and Madam Pomfrey and Remus exited, Sirius creeping behind them. He followed them down a few flights of stairs and then heard Remus say something that made him stop.

"I think my friends are beginning to worry," he said quietly to the nurse.

"Are you going to tell them?" she asked. Concern was rigid in her voice. "It's your decision, of course..."

"I think so--soon--when I'm ready...I think I trust them but I'm still afraid," Remus answered quietly.

"What are you afraid of?" Madam Pomfrey asked sympathetically. Sirius listened intently.

"Being shunned, like I've been all my life," Remus said. "I think I should give it more time."

"That's a wise decision," said Madam Pomfrey. "You're a very courageous boy Remus." Sirius didn't want to follow anymore. He had a bad sinking feeling in his stomach. Something very serious was definitely happening and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know what it was. Instead he turned and went back to the boys dormitory to talk with James.

***

Attention Hopeful Quidditch Players

Quidditch Tryouts for the Gryffindors will be held on the 18^th of September during lunch break on the Quidditch Field with Ray Warren, the new Captain and Madam Hooch observing. Bring your broom, if you have one (if not, they will be provided). Looking forward to seeing many people there and having the best team yet.

"I've got to go!" James said as he read the note up on the bulletin. "Sirius? Remus? Why don't you two try out?" The two of them looked at him, their heads cocked.

"The team doesn't need us. Maybe next year," Sirius said lazily.

"Remus, what about you?" James asked.

"Well..." Remus pondered the thought. "I don't know what position I could be. I'm no good at Keeper and Seeker's too hard and I'm not strong enough to be a Beater, and a Chaser just doesn't interest me. So..."

"Spoiled sports," James whispered. "Well, you'll be sorry. We'll have the best damn Quidditch team ever, without all you losers."

The next day was the eighteenth of September and James could hardly concentrate on anything all through the day apart from Quidditch. He saw something at breakfast, though, that took his mind off of Quidditch completely. Remus was reaching across the table to get syrup when the sleeve of his robe fell a little off his arm and James saw a terrible gash running up all the way from wrist to his elbow. James nudged Sirius, pointing and Sirius looked, his mouth falling open.

"What's that?" he exclaimed loudly, grabbing Remus' arm and pulling up the sleeve. The gash was huge, as if someone had dragged a nail through the top skin in his arm. It didn't look fresh, but was a scab, though it still looked very painful. Remus looked at it, breathing heavily as if wondering what to say next, and hoping no one had heard Sirius' cry.

"J--just a scratch," Remus said, pulling his arm away.

"A scratch! That's huge!" James said. "What happened?"

"I fell on a rock walking back from Herbology a few days ago," Remus said, his face turning awfully pink. He pulled away from Sirius' grasp, and covered his arm up again.

"You're a terrible liar Remus," Sirius said, shaking his head. "What happened--tell us the truth." Remus looked around him.

"I...I was bitten by a dog at the end of the summer," he whispered.

"There, that wasn't hard now was it?" James said. "All you had to do was tell us the first time."

"What kind of dog?" Sirius said.

"Doberman," Remus said. "It's not the first time...dogs don't like me much." James and Sirius didn't pursue the subject, but they had a feeling that Remus was still hiding something...

***

James made his way down to the Quidditch pitch, where about ten other people were standing, and stood beside Lily, who was holding her own broom. She didn't look at him. James admired her broom, feeling a bit jealous--the only broom his family owned was nearly fifty years old and James would rather ride the school brooms than the one he had.

Ray Warren, the captain was a very handsome, tall, and athletic boy with golden hair; he was very serious about the sport. He gave them all a talk, his eyebrows furrowed as he paced back and forth, his hands behind his back while Madam Hooch stood behind him nodding at everything he said.

"As some of you may know, it has been four years since Gryffindor has won the Quidditch cup and that year--1968 I believe--was just lucky. Before that it was thirteen years since we had won. This year we're going to win and we're going to have the best bloody team Gryffindor's seen this century; that's why I want you all to be aware that we'll be training hard--once a week in the least and three times before we have a match. It will be hard and I want all of you on the team to be good sports, play fair, and play hard. If any of you can't handle the responsibility of being part of the team, you might as well leave now." No one moved. Ray Warren smiled. "Well then, you can all mount your brooms and fly around for a few minutes while I watch. Just pretend I'm not here."

Everyone mounted and began to fly around freely while Warren watched with a straight face, him arms crossed. When he was first off the ground, James was feeling extremely confident and proud when, suddenly, his broom slowed in midair and began to jerk around as though a rock had been attached to the tail. James tried to pull the broom forward but it only sagged in more and more. He looked around to see if anyone had noticed what his broom was doing but they were all to busy doing tricks in midair. Hitting the broom hard to get it to stop, and it finally did, James was once again feeling proud of himself, hovering high above everyone. He took his hands off the broom and took off his glasses and began to dust them with his sleeve to show he was capable of handling things on a broom without both hands.

Ray Warren had opened a box beside him and had taken out a Quaffle and threw it up yelling, "Think fast!" Of course, the ball headed straight towards James, him being the highest, (as well as having his glasses off and not being able to see a single thing) and it hit him hard in the stomach, cracking his glasses. He toppled over, hanging upside down. A few people were laughing. James, turning red from embarrassment situated himself on his broom and put his shattered glasses in his robe pocket. He didn't act proud for the rest of the tryout and he left the field quickly, knowing for sure he would never be on the Quidditch team.

Sirius ran into him as he was making his way to the Common Room. "So..." Sirius said, grinning. "How'd it go?"

James looked at him with pursed lips. "I'm writing my mother right now and telling her to get me my own broom because I hate those school brooms!" and he stormed off to the Common Room.

"I'll take that as a 'not very well Sirius, but thank you for asking' shall I?" Sirius said grinning and he continued to make his way to the Library.

James wrote his mother a short letter immediately:

Dear Mum,

Quidditch tryouts went awfully because I had to use the school brooms which are terrible and I think mine was the worst because it kept slowing down. Could you please get me the latest model if you have a chance?

Love,

James

P.S. You can get the Galleons from my life savings even though that means I'll have to save up to support my family if I ever have one.

James hoped that the postscript hinted that the broom would be a perfect birthday present with his birthday coming October second, two weeks away. He sealed the envelope and took it down to the owlrey and attached it to his barn owl, Sahasa, who at the moment was sleeping with her arm under her wing. James prodded her awake gently and she gave a small hoot as James tied the letter around her ankle. James stroked her feathers before his faithful owl took flight into the azure sky.

Less than a week later, to his surprise and delight, James received a beautiful broom--A Nimbus 1000, the newest brand, and finest broom for Quidditch--the people around him Oooooing and Awwwing as he unwrapped the package and the broom fell out, the silver lettering reading "Nimbus 1000" shimmering. James tried not to grin too grandly, but he couldn't help it. He took the note attached and opened it.

Dear James,

We had already planned to give you this broom for your birthday but when we got your letter we decided to send it early since you sounded rather desperate. Now, I think you should talk to Madam Hooch or your captain and ask them to give you another go at the try outs. Happy thirteenth birthday!

Love,

Mum

He left the Great Hall and went to their classes. A few days passed and the first of October found them in the Common Room reading and writing essays before the fire. James and Sirius were sitting in the corner table alone, Peter in the Library, and Remus once again disappeared, when Lily walked over to them, holding something.

"Hello. Like my new muggle calendar? I've got your birthday circled now James, Sirius, so I won't forget" She held up a twelve month calendar to the month of October and on the page was a picture of a blazing sunset.

"Er...great Lily," Sirius said, sounding completely uninterested as he scribbled Potion notes.

"I think wizards don't give muggles enough credit for some things. Look at this--we have every day, every holiday, and even a chart of the moons. Muggles do astronomy too you know. As a matter of fact, there'll be a full moon tonight."