The Diary

Chapter Fourteen - The Supplement

It was late July, and the Hogwarts students were all at their homes, enjoying the lack of classes and the warm weather. Most students were relaxing and forgetting about learning new spells, but James Potter and his friends were not most students.

As soon as he'd gotten home from King's Cross, James had gone to the library and compiled a list of everything he'd learned about becoming an Animagus. It was a very short list, which depressed James. He had been trying to become an Animagus for several years without any success. Admittedly, he hadn't been giving it his all, but James was determined to change that.

He'd spent the month of July visiting bookshops with Sirius, telling his parents they were at Quidditch stores, lest they get the wrong idea. James thoroughly enjoyed his outings with Sirius, and they had the added benefit of getting his friend out of the Black household. They had gathered some new information, but not much.

"No wonder there've been so few registered; how are you supposed to become one if no one will tell you how?" James had said to Sirius one day.

According to their many sources, the trick to becoming an Animagus was to keep your own mind. It was relatively easy to change someone into an animal, but to keep human reasoning was tricky. That was why it was so dangerous - it could go horribly, horribly wrong.

The group had also learned that it was an entirely wandless process; there were no incantations or potions. They had been ecstatic to learn that the Ministry of Magic wouldn't pick up transforming because there was no real spell involved. That left them free to practise all they wanted during the summer. The problem was that they had yet to find a description of how to do it.

James was frustrated enough that he had missed some of his nightly sessions with Evans in order to read more books, hoping for something. It got to the point where he was desperate enough to ask anyone who wouldn't be suspicious of his sudden interest in Animagi, including Evans.

I have a question for you.

Ask away.

What do you know about Animagi?

There was a pause before she responded, which made James start to doubt his decision to ask her.

Let's see... Well, I know that it's when a person transforms into an animal, not of their choosing. You have to register with the Ministry, but that's about it.

His heart sank a little more; Evans had been a long shot, and even that hadn't worked out.

Although...

What?

There is that book that Emily gave me. I'd forgotten I had it. There might be something in that.

James was fairly sure that whatever book she was referring to, he'd already read it at some point or another.

You own a book that you haven't read?

Ha ha. Like I said, I only just remembered that it exists. I think it's somewhere in the bottom of my trunk...

It's forever lost, then.

Again, you are hysterical. Why do you want to know about Animagi, anyway?

Some other writer is doing a homework assignment on them.

Anyone I know?

You know I can't tell you that.

I was wondering what year they're in, that's all.

I actually don't know.

Never mind then.

So, what is new in the life of Lily Evans?

Oh, the usual. Ever since I told Petunia to shut it, she's been ignoring me.

Huzzah?

Yes, huzzah. I have to say, it's a vast improvement over last summer. I'm going to Emily's in a few days, which I'm looking forward to. I've ordered a subscription to the Daily Prophet, which is somewhat of a downer.

James had been so caught up in his own work, he hadn't bothered to keep up with the news. Strange that Evans had a subscription, but then again, it was Evans. He felt he had a pretty good sense of her character now, but she never failed to surprise him.

Anything interesting happen lately?

You-Know-Who has been gaining more and more supporters, unfortunately. He's responsible for so many deaths. This morning the paper reported another attack that left seven more dead.

That's a lot, but the Ministry will probably take care of it.

I doubt it. You-Know-Who has been on the rise for several years now, and the Ministry hasn't been able to do much at all. I just wish I could do something. He's after people like me, and for such a stupid reason. I can't control my parentage.

To be honest, James hadn't been following the news for most of his life. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do when he grew up, but it didn't involve a desk job in London.

Are you planning on joining the Ministry when you finish school?

Possibly. The problem isn't really with the Ministry, and that would be doing something. No, the root of this is complacency and apathy.

You-Know-Who was a new discussion topic to the two students, and James was curious. Evans seemed to know a lot about this for a Muggleborn fifth-year.

What do you mean?

Everyone just lets him get away with this. The Ministry tries to help, but they don't really have the support of the people.

Surely you don't mean everyone's a supporter?

That came out wrong. I mean most people are terrified of You-Know-Who, but they are content to let the Ministry handle it. Even when the Ministry is obviously not doing a very good job, people still don't take it upon themselves to do anything about it. From what I've read, the Ministry's a bit corrupted. I'm not counting on them to do much of anything.

So the solution is to...

Either the Ministry needs to do a better job, or the people need to fight back.

You've given this a lot of thought.

Yes, I have. It's hard not to when it's so prominent in the news. And it's not like I've anything better to do.

James had to admit, he was impressed. He'd never really cared much for current affairs, much less thought about how to fix things.

You should go into politics.

Is that meant as a compliment?

Indeed.

Oh, well, thanks.

You're quite welcome.

0 0 0

The following afternoon, James had all three of his friends over. They sat in the kitchen, munching away on whatever food they could find.

"We're stuck, aren't we?" commented Sirius offhandedly as he bit into an apple. He climbed onto the kitchen counter and stretched out, enjoying his fruit.

James, leaning against the kitchen table, replied tiredly, "Unfortunately. I don't know what we're going to do. If I read another line about how dangerous it is, I think I might burn something. Preferably whatever book I'm holding at the time." He noticed that Remus had fallen silent in their conversation, a habit Remus seemed to have picked up whenever the topic revolved around Animagi. "Remus Lupin, stop sulking."

Remus gave a half-hearted grin from his seat at the table. "I am obligated to say that I don't think this is the best idea you've ever had, but considering the amount of effort you've put into this, I know I'm not going to persuade you to stop. So carry on with your plans, James. I'm not stopping you."

"You're only saying that because we're going in circles," Sirius pointed out.

"Perhaps," Remus said evasively.

Not wanting to set off yet another round of debate on the issue, James changed the subject. "Any of you read the Prophet this morning?"

Sirius went along with James' train of thought. "You can read?"

Peter tittered and got out of his seat to fetch a glass of water. James rolled his eyes. "That's right Sirius. I've gone through four years of school without ever having read a single word."

"That's partially true, though. How much of the assigned reading have you ever done?" Remus asked innocently. "But I have to say, I did not know that you read the paper."

James shrugged. "I need something to keep my mind occupied, don't I?"

Remus quirked an eyebrow and replied before Sirius could make another joke. "So, James, what do you think about all this You-Know-Who business?"

"I think it's terrible." After his conversation with Evans the previous night, James had done some serious thinking. Well, serious for a fifteen-year-old boy. Loathe as he was to admit it, although not as much as he would have been several months previously, Evans had once again made him think. "We need to do something about it before more people are killed."

Remus was intrigued. "We?"

"You know, you, me, my parents. Not Sirius, though. He's too busy making fun of Peter." James hopped up to sit on the table. "The people in charge right now are botching things up, which leaves it to us to solve it."

"What can we do? We're still in school," Peter asked as he took his seat again.

James thought this over for a moment. "We can learn Defence Against the Dark Arts, I suppose. You know, hexes, jinxes, that sort of thing. It can't hurt."

"Sounds like a plan to me," said Sirius.

James looked at him, secretly somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected Sirius to be in favour of more work. "Really?"

Sirius slid off the counter and joined his friends at the table. "I've always planned to do something."

"Oh?" Remus asked with a hint of scepticism. Amazingly, James could tell that Sirius wasn't joking around for once.

"This You-Know-Who person is a nuisance. And besides, my parents support him. That should be reason enough to dislike him. Even Regulus," Sirius' eyes darkened, "thinks he's got the right ideas."

"You know what would help beat You-Know-Who?" Peter spoke up. "Becoming Animagi."

Remus groaned and sunk his head into his arms while James and Sirius grinned at each other. "Peter," said James. "You are absolutely right."

"You really aren't giving up on this, are you?" Remus said with a sigh.

Sirius chuckled. "'Course not, Remus. We're going to do this, no matter how long it takes."

0 0 0

Several nights later, James was sitting in his chair by his bedroom window, staring out at the full moon. The pale light streamed through the glass and onto the blank pages of his journal.

Hello.

Hello. How are you tonight?

I'm fine. And yourself?

I am superb, thank you for asking.

Listen, there's something I've been meaning to ask you for a while now.

Fire away.

Well... I was wondering why you didn't write to me earlier in the year.

Oh. That.

Yes, that.

The short answer is I'm new at this.

How do you mean?

To get his mind off of his predicament with transforming, James had gone through and thought of questions Evans might ask about their situation. He'd built his own system of wizarding diaries. Maybe someday he would sell the idea to some enterprising wizard.

You're the first person I've written to and I was really nervous that things weren't going to work out. Then you were a Muggleborn, and I thought I could get away with not doing anything until the right moment. I kept putting it off, and finally decided I had to do something or I would be a complete failure.

0 0 0

Lily sympathised with Roscoe; it was startling how realistic he was for a magical personality. She'd been thoroughly enjoying her summer, but getting away from the magical environment had made her question her reaction to her diary's actions. Why had she so willingly opened up to Roscoe? It was uncharacteristic of her to trust someone so quickly. Then again, she hadn't really started to trust him until... Well, there was no one moment. It had been a gradual thing. In any case, Lily was thankful for it.

I understand. Oh! I have good news.

Petunia forgave you and you're the best of friends now?

Er, no. This is good news for you, I suppose.

How so?

You asked about Animagi a few nights ago, remember? Well, I found my Transfiguration book and read it. It was really interesting, but it had a lot of good information in it.

0 0 0

What sort of information?

It describes a lot of the rules and dangers for most of the Animagi chapters.

James rolled his eyes; he already could recite the rules concerning Animagi from memory.

Anything else?

My favourite part was the chapter on becoming an Animagus.

His heart sped up. Was it possible that Evans had done what he and his friends were unable to do? James wanted to question her, but he didn't know how to phrase it.

Go on.

It mentioned some parts of transforming. Not all of them, mind you, but it sounds like it requires an immense amount of concentration.

James struggled not to demand she hand over the book.

Where is this book from?

I asked Emily about it, as she was the one who gave it to me, and she said she found it in her house. The best part of the gift was a supplement of sorts that she'd tucked into the back of the book.

What kind of supplement?

Emily rummaged through her attic and found an old journal. It belonged to her great-uncle or something. He was an Animagus and wrote down how he did it.

James was sure his heart had stopped, if even for the briefest of moments.

That's incredible.

I haven't read it yet, but I'm planning to read it tomorrow.

Out of curiosity, why did Emily give it to you? It sounds like it could be quite valuable.

She said she knew I'd think it was interesting. And from what I've read so far, it is a fascinating subject.

That it is.

So how do I give this information to the other student? I can't very well write to him. Or her.

You could copy the important things onto my pages, and I'll make sure the student gets them.

That sounds like a plan. I'll read the journal tomorrow, so I can probably get it to you within a few days. This level of information has to be worth bonus points.

The urge to jump up and shout, "Success!" was overwhelming, but James suppressed it.

I'm sure the student will be very thankful for your help.

It's not any problem at all. Well, I think I'm going to go to bed now. I'm exhausted.

'Night.

Good night.

James shut the journal and leaned back into his chair. Evans had done it. She'd found out how to become an Animagus, and she was going to tell him. He'd be able to do this.

James stared at the moon, a broad smile slowly forming on his face. He'd be able to help Remus. Taking one last look at the sky, James crawled into bed and fell asleep, dreaming of Transfiguration.

0 0 0

A week passed by, a week in which James Potter decided that Lily Evans wasn't all that bad. She'd followed through with her promise, and he now knew the steps required to become an Animagus.

"James, you're grinning like a fool. What have you done now?" Sirius commented one afternoon. The four Marauders had gathered once again in order to discuss their plans.

"I've found it," said James, barely containing his glee.

Sirius leaned forward in his seat. They had congregated in James' bedroom for the time being, and Sirius had commandeered James' chair. "You've found it?" he asked eagerly. James nodded, causing Sirius to whoop.

Remus stared incredulously at James. "You've really found something?"

Peter's gaze shifted from one friend to another. "What did we find?"

"I have discovered how to become an Animagus," James proclaimed as he whipped out a stack of parchment from his desk. "In detail," he added.

Sirius leapt up from his seat and grabbed the papers. "Where did you find this?" he asked as he sorted through the sheets.

"I wrote to one of my parent's friends who specialises in Transfiguration, said I was doing an assignment on it. Bonus points for describing how you do it."

Peter had walked over to Sirius and was looking over his shoulder at James' notes. Remus remained seated on James' bed, his eyes transfixed on his friends. "You can't," he whispered. "You'll get thrown in Azkaban and I'll never see you again."

James sat down next to his lycanthropic friend. "Remus, we're not going to get caught. Besides, think how much fun we'll have once we learn how to do this. It'll be the Marauder secret - we can have codenames and everything."

Remus gave the faintest of smiles as Sirius and Peter joined them on the bed.

"That's right, Remus," said Sirius. "We're doing this, and it is going to be wicked."

The four friends looked around at each other, silently enjoying their moment of friendship.

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait. I've had some computer issues. Remember, more of the story can be found at the story's livejournal (username is diaryfic).

Voceconbrio: We can make each other's day. :) Thanks for the tip off on the formatting - I'll go and fix that.

CurlsOfGold: James is nice when he wants to be. Next year is indeed the OWL/Lake scene. (And am I ever looking forward to that.) Yes, it will be in the story, and it will be somewhat more significant than you'd think. Thanks for the lovely review!

ElisaGrint: Wow, you like the story more than I do. ;) There will be more of Lily's parents next summer (or so I have planned), and lots of Lily's dual nature. Thanks for reviewing!

20xXheartbreakerXx07: Will James tell her? Possibly. Will Lily find out eventually? Most definitely. And you can imagine how that'll make her feel. James doesn't necessarily -love- her persay, but he does like her more than he thinks he does. Thanks for the two reviews!

And also an enormous thank you! to EmeraldWitch, ______xufck, Kat44, sarah747, tflvr1, 14487gyjy, and KimCelia for leaving me nice reviews. You're all too kind. :)