The Marauders' First Week at Hogwarts

Chapter 3

Tuesday: September 2^nd

First Day of Class

"James, wake up." Remus nudged his friend.

"Nnng..."

"James, you're going to miss breakfast."

"I'll get up in a minute."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, go on without me. I'll meet you at the table."

"If you say so." Remus shrugged and left.

James promptly rolled over and fell back to sleep.

Remus left, hoping his friend would get up soon. He waited down in the common room for about 10 minutes, and then went back upstairs. He didn't want his friend to get detention on the first day. He knocked on the door, "James, wake up!"

James groaned and said sourly, "Go away."

"Don't blame me when you get detention then." Remus walked away. He felt bad about it but he needed his breakfast and he didn't want to be late to class.

James woke up at about quarter to nine. He saw the clock. "What?" he screamed. He was going to be late. He hurriedly put on his clothes and ended up putting on his robes back to front, putting his shoes on the wrong feet, and putting one black sock and one white sock on.

James started off down the stairs at a run, silently cursing himself for oversleeping. Now he'd missed breakfast and he might not even get to class on time! He ran down the stairs and into the Great Hall and finally got there after 2 wrong turns and a dead end corridor. There was a schedule on the table that said "James Potter" on the top. He looked at it. Transfiguration. He took 6 wrong turns trying to find the classroom.

"Mister Potter, you are late. Explain yourself."

James said breathlessly, "I'm sorry, Professor. You see, I overslept this morning and then I got lost on my way here. Repeatedly."

"Take your seat. You are lucky I don't give you a detention. Get out your book, parchment, ink, and a quill. Turn to page one and begin taking notes on what I say, you can get what you missed from one of your classmates."

James took a seat by Remus. He opened his bag and pulled out a Potions book. "Professor, I brought the wrong book."

"If you would have been on time, you would have been able to exchange it for the correct one. Share with Mr. Lupin. Now you do have detention. Two offenses within the first minute you're in the room is not permissible."

Some of the students were snickering at him.

Professor McGonagall said dryly, "Mister Potter, in the future please attend class not only at the normal time and with the proper books, but in your regulation uniform worn properly."

James sighed and rolled his eyes, looking down at his clothing; today was certainly not his day.

James asked Remus if he could borrow a quill, ink, and some parchment. He'd forgotten his.

Remus rolled his eyes and passed him the materials.

Sirius leaned behind Remus and whispered to James, "You forgot how to get dressed!" Sirius was sitting next to Remus because McGonagall had put him there after he confessed that he'd forgotten his book. He'd also had to borrow writing materials from Remus.

"Mr. Black, are you talking in my classroom?"

"No, Professor," he said, trying to look innocent (one day he would perfect it, it was only a matter of time, but today was not that day).

Sirius snickered at James when McGonagall's back was turned.

The lesson ended. "Class dismissed. Mr. Potter, stay a moment, I need to speak to you. Arriving late you missed the rules. Tardiness will not be permitted in this class. Being unprepared will not be permitted. Disrespectful behavior toward myself or the other students will not be permitted. If such behavior continues you will be evicted from this classroom. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Professor," James said. "But when was I disrespectful?"

"Just going over the rules. You have detention. You will receive an Owl notifying you of the time and place. You are dismissed."

Remus was waiting outside the classroom James.

"We've got to get to Gryffindor Tower to exchange our books for our next class. I can't believe you got detention in the first class of the first day, James," Remus scolded him. "Really!"

Sirius had waited around and he snickered. "I dunno; I'd call it a gift."

"Shut-up."

Sirius smirked.

"Come on, James. I'll show you the way back to the common room," Remus said, grabbing his wrist.

"Yeah, I don't know where it is."

"Isn't that what I just said?"

"Oh, right."

They went to get their books and got back just in time for their history of magic lesson. James waited until Lily went inside and then went in right after her. He took the seat next to hers.

"You again? I thought I told you to go away yesterday!"

"Actually you refused to speak to me when I came back to see you on the train and you left before I got a chance to talk to you in the room we were in before the Sorting. I would have gone to sit by you at the table last night but you didn't save me a seat and I missed breakfast today."

"Get out of my face!"

"Please? I just want to sit here. It's not a crime."

"Mr. Potter, remove yourself to another table," a voice said.

James looked up and saw his uncle standing over him. "Yes, Un--er, Professor Binns."

"I'll be back," he told Lily.

She sniffed angrily at him and he went to go sit in the back of the room between Sirius and Remus.

"Shot down again?" asked Sirius, grinning.

"None of your business," James pouted.

They took notes for the first 20 minutes before Professor Binns instructed them to put away their parchment and quills. He pulled out a wooden chest and opened it. There were costumes and props and things. "Now, we are going to use the remainder of the class period to reenact the goblin rebellions." He started assigning parts and factions and they got to act out what they'd learned.

James and Remus mostly avoided Sirius during the rest of the day. The kid seemed like bad news.

At lunch, James was eating his chicken soup and he saw that Sirius was stealing glances at the Slytherin table. The reason soon became apparent.

Severus Snape stood, shrieking and spilled soup all over himself. "Get it out! Get it out! You'll pay for this, Black! Get it out!"

Laughter broke out all over the room, but nobody laughed as hard as Sirius, who was looking decidedly guilty.

Professor Binns went to see what was wrong with the poor Slytherin, who was acting as though he was possessed.

Sirius decided it was time to make his getaway.

McGonagall however disagreed with this notion and was soon upon him.

"Mister Black, what did you do to him?"

"Nothing!" he attempted to look innocent. It would take some time before he managed to perfect this look, as it was, right now he might have fooled a new teacher, but not McGonagall. It wasn't easy to pull the wool over her eyes.

"Nice try, Black. Come to my office." She called to Professor Binns, "Bring that one too." McGonagall took Sirius by the ear and pulled him along to her office. He didn't shriek or cry out (it hurts to be pulled by your ear!) he just made a face and bit his lip.

They went into McGonagall's office, Snape and Binns close behind them. "Did you want me to stay, Minerva?"

"No, no, you're free to go back and enjoy your lunch," she told Professor Binns.

"Really, Professor? Thanks, ever so much." Sirius grinned charmingly and jumped out of his seat.

"SIT!" she barked. "You are not free to leave."

Sirius tried to keep his smile as he lowered himself back into the seat, acting as though sitting back down were his own idea and he wasn't about to get in serious trouble.

"Mister Snape, would like to tell me what happened?"

"He did it! He put fish in my soup and they jumped out of my soup and squirmed down my robes!"

Sirius tried desperately not to laugh.

"Is that true, Mister Black?" she asked, already sure of the answer.

"It wasn't just any fish," he persisted. "It was a group of baby mudskippers! And if I'm going to be punished anyway, can I at least have them back?"

Her mouth went in a thin line. "No." She glanced at the greasy-headed boy. He had a mean sneer to his lips. She didn't like him in her office. "Have you come to any bodily harm during this encounter?"

"No."

"Then you are dismissed."

"But--" He wanted to stay and watch Black get punished.

"Now."

Snape sulkily departed.

"Why did you pick on him? You've only been here since yesterday. You can't possibly hate each other so much already." She didn't add the fact that she'd taken an immediate dislike to the other boy, though she had felt some pity. Honestly, not even at school 2 full days and the whole hall had laughed at him twice!

"Actually, Professor, I've known him for quite some time now. You're aware who my family is, or rather, their reputation?"

"Yes." She knew quite well the reputation the Black family had. That's why it had shocked her to see young Sirius sorted into her house.

"And you're aware of that boy's family's reputation?"

"Yes," she admitted.

"Our families thought we'd be excellent friends so they had us spend time together. I'll suffice to say that we didn't get along."

"Regardless, you will be serving detention. You'll be receiving an Owl to notify you of the time and place. You are dismissed."

He stood up and smiled. "Any chance that I'm going to get my mudskippers back?"

"No."

He walked away.

McGonagall muttered to herself, "First day of classes and I've already had to put too of my own students in detention!"

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James looked with a little bit of envy at Sirius, who was playing Gobstones on the other side of the common room. James had wanted to play too but Remus had insisted that he get his work done. He was finished now but Remus still had another 6 inches to go on one of his essays.

"What was that book you were reading yesterday?"

"The 3 Musketeers." He explained what it was about.

"Sounds interesting." They sat in silence another ten minutes while Remus's quill scratched against the parchment. "Are you done yet?"

"No."

"Done yet?"

"No."

"I'm bored."

"Then go ask Clarissa about Sir Nicholas about that story you want to hear."

"Fine." James sought out and soon found Clarissa. "Can you tell me the story about how Sir Nicholas died?"

"I'm in the middle of something here. I'm helping Samantha with her Charms homework." She gestured to the girl beside her. She turned back to James, "What was your name again?"

"James. James Potter." He gave her the puppy dog stare that sometimes worked at home. It was far from perfected, but perfection was only a matter of time. "Please?"

Although, as stated, James's look was far from perfected, it worked. Clarissa was not proof against an adorable 11 year old fixing her with such an innocent, won't-you-please-help-me look. She was doomed. She didn't stand a chance. "Okay. Nick was murdered. Some tried to behead him with an axe, but it wasn't very sharp. So he ended up having to hack at his neck 42 times before he was finally dead. He didn't get properly beheaded and so it's still partially attached. If you want gory details, go see that guy over there, but I can't promise he'll be accurate."

James grinned. The end of his first day of classes and he's already manipulating his elders! Maybe he could weasel out of detention. He'd gotten an Owl at dinner that told him he'd be serving his time tomorrow night.

Clarissa called out, "Oi, Prewette, get over here!"

A boy from across the room got up and came over. "You called?"

"Gideon Prewette, meet James Potter. James wants to hear your story about Nearly-Headless-Nick."

The boy grinned and tossed back his longish, goldish-blonde hair. "It'll be my pleasure." He winked at Clarissa flirtatiously.

She laughed, "I told you to forget it. I don't date second years. I'm in the middle tutoring a third year right now."

"Oh, alright then." Gideon cupped his hands to his mouth, "Gather 'round! If you want to hear the tale of Nearly-Headless-Nick and his gruesome death, come over by the fire and save me the good chair!"

This peaked the interest of a number of students and a small crowd gathered by the fire.

A second-year seated on the floor next to James (older students had taken the chairs) said, "This story gets better every time he tells it!"

"Really?"

"Yeah. Never tells the same tale twice."

James listened eagerly as Gideon started. The firelight played on his face and he included hand movements and gestures. He was one of those truly excellent storytellers who made his voice raise to a shout and sink to a sinister whisper at all the right times.

"Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington, or Nearly-Headless-Nick, as you all now know him, lived in Florence and was close friends with the ruling Medici family. But he was close friends with the Duke of Caprona as well and the Duke didn't get along well with the Medicis. You see, almost 50 years before, one of the earlier Medicis had gotten in a fight with a member of the Duke's family when they were at school together. Both families were wizards and their members had gone to school together, it was a school like Hogwarts, but of course not as groovy as Hogwarts. We all know Hogwarts is the best school in existence." There was a cheer at this. "So now the two families hated each other, and if it weren't for their good friend Sir Nicholas, they would have gone to war. But then, there was an interference." His voice sunk to a sinister whisper. "Someone was plotting to kill him. They controlled a large stock of guns and trade and if he could start war between Caprona and Florence, he'd be making a lot of money. So he hired an assassin to kill off the man known then as Sir Nicholas. But at this time, the man who wanted Nick killed was pretty poor, so he couldn't hire a very good assassin. He found a new person, who was willing to do the job cheap. He asked, How are you planning to kill him? When? Tonight? I want this done as soon as possible. The assassin replied, No, it'd be too easy for them to trace the source. A little bit of gold and they could find out whatever they wanted to know. The man asked, How then? The assassin replied, He's visiting at the Duke's now, but at the end of the week he is going to spend one night at home before going to see the Medicis. He's been invited up to court again. I am going to be waiting when he gets home from his stay at the Duke's. I've managed to bribe several servants of his to let me in. I'll be waiting and do away with him with my trusted axe. The man looked skeptical, You can handle that with skill? The assassin replied, Of course I can. I've chopped wood with it for years. You see, he couldn't afford to get a special knife or sword. He was pretty poor too. These guys were Muggles and most of the nobility in Italy at this time were the wizards, but the Muggles didn't know that. The wizarding families always just said they sent their kids off to finishing school in Switzerland, but their kids were really at wizarding school. Anyway the assassin bribed his way into the home of Sir Nicholas and hid under his bed for hours. Sir Nicholas and his carriage came home at last. It was pouring rain outside and there was thunder and lightning. Sir Nicholas came in and was very tired so he went up to his chambers immediately, without dinner. Had he gone to dinner, his faithful servant Bartholomew would have warned him about what was going to happen. Bartholomew had overheard the assassin speaking to one of the scullery maids, but hadn't been able to get away to warn Sir Nicholas. So, unaware of what would happen, Sir Nicholas went up to his bedroom and closed the door. He took off his cloak and was suddenly attack from behind. The assassin had come up from under the bed and started hacking at Sir Nicholas! You see, the man who was paying him to kill Nick was demanded his head as proof that the job was done. The assassin had expected to be able to take off Nick's head in one swipe. But he hadn't sharpened the blade after he'd been cutting down firewood. The assassin was frustrated and continued to hack at Nick's neck. 42 times he hacked and hewed! It was nearly off, Nick was dead by this time but suddenly the door flew open! The walls of his manor house were very thick and with door shut, nobody should have heard him scream. And Nick did scream. It was the loyal servant, Bartholomew. You see, he knew that Nick was a wizard. Through some accident, he had found out and afterward he and Nick set up an alarm system using magic so that if Nicholas's blood were spilled, Bartholomew would know and have extra speed to come to his rescue. But he was too late. His master was dead, his neck hanging by a hinge. Bartholomew overcame the assassin and handed him over to the authorities. Sir Nicholas, when he came back as a ghost, decided not to remain in Italy. You see, he was really English and had gone to Hogwarts. He only went to Italy after graduation, so he decided if he had to wander around as a ghost, he might as well go back to the school he loved. The End."

There was a round of applause.

The second year next to James said, "He added that part about Hogwarts because usually people ask questions like, 'If he's Italian why's he here?' or 'But he doesn't have an accent'." He giggled. "What did you think of the story?"

"It was great. Is it true?"

"Probably not. Gideon came up with the name Nearly-Headless-Nick himself. The only thing we know for sure is that he was hit 42 times with a blunt axe. Sometimes when Gideon tells the story Sir Nicholas is an English ambassador to the French, or sometimes he's murdered having tea with the queen."

James snorted. "He could at least stick to the same story."

"If he did that, do you think he'd have this big a crowd listening to him?"

"Probably not," admitted James.

The boy laughed as everyone got up and scattered. It was late and some of the younger students were getting tired and going to bed. James wasn't really tired yet, but Remus told him that he needed his rest if he didn't want to repeat this morning's little adventure and get lost and have another detention on his hands.