Up to No Good

Chapter One: A New Beginning

James Potter woke up one fine day in July to find his room filled with the soft golden light of early morning. He yawned heartily, stretched his arms, knocked his glasses off his bedside table and rolled over the edge. Only when he had hit the floor with a thump was he fully awake. He groped for his glasses, put them on, pulled himself upright and glanced into the mirror.

"Good morning, sleepyhead", it said. "Lost your hairbrush, have you?" James shrugged at his reflection, which stared back at him from under a tangle of jet-black hair. He ran his fingers through his hair once, which hardly made any difference at all, and went downstairs to have breakfast.

His mother was already in the kitchen, making coffee and frying some eggs. She looked up and smiled at James when he came in.

"First one down for once", she teased him. "What happened? Did a unicorn jump in through the window and land on your bed?"

"Well, no, mum... Actually it was more of an angry manticore crawling out from under my mattress", James grinned. His mother laughed while he started piling food onto his plate.

Angelica Potter was about forty years old, but she looked younger. She was slim and graceful, wore her brown hair in a ponytail, and her grey eyes sparkled mischievously in her pretty face. Only very few wrinkles betrayed her age to be more than twenty. Many people didn't believe her when she told them that her younger son had turned eleven in April.

James had just finished eating his breakfast when his his brother Philip came down the creaking steps and entered the kitchen, yawning uncontrollably. "Mornin', mum, hey, Jimmyboy", he said, slumping down in a chair. James hated being called nicknames, but he tolerated them from his nineteen year old brother.

Philip had finished Hogwarts a year ago and had started to work as a reporter for the Daily Prophet immediately afterwards. He was talking about starting to train as an Auror soon, though, as writing articles wasn't challenging enough for him.

As he was slowly sipping his coffee, there was a tapping noise at the window. Angelica went to open it, and a barn owl fluttered in, bearing an important-looking letter. James jumped up excitedly and untied the letter from the owl's foot, which it was patiently holding out to him. He turned the envelope over and read the address. His face fell. "Here, for you, Phil", he said, holding it out to his brother.

Philip tore open the envelope and took out a card. A smile spread over his face when he read it. "Hey, mum! Remember Arthur Weasley? You know, that redhead who played Quidditch with me till my fifth year? He's getting married to Molly Andrews in August!"

"Molly Andrews? wasn't she that redhead you were in love with in your fifth year?" asked James, in mock puzzlement. Philip blushed slightly, but grinned at his brother. "I think I'll need to put a memory charm on you someday, if you keep teasing me with things like that", he said, and started to pull out his wand threateningly. James pretended to be terrified and backed away, stuttering, "b-but y-you c-can't do that, w-what if the m-ministry found out... what if they kill you... or worse, what if mum hears??"

Angelica rolled her eyes at them. "You two just get out of the house as soon as you've eaten", she said. "I don't want another world war to start in my kitchen." The boys just grinned.

Suddenly there was another sharp tap on the window. This time, a large tawny owl soared in and ruffled its feathers importantly. Again, James untied the letter and read the address as the owl took off again. He let out a contented sigh. "Finally!", he said. "Mum, it's my Hogwarts letter! When are we going to Diagon Alley?"

She hesitated for a second. Then she said, "Well, I'm rather busy today, and you know that your father is working, so..." - "Aww mum, can't I go alone?", James broke in. "Absolutely not", his mother replied firmly. "The last time I let you out of my sight there for two seconds, you were trying to feed that poor dog skele-gro, and god knows what might have happened!" James looked extremely disappointed.

"Mum, if he's so eager to go, I could take him", said Philip. James looked ready to kiss him. His mother looked doubtful. "Well, if you're careful..." - "Of course I'll be careful, mum, don't you worry", said Phil, winking at his brother. Angelica sighed. "Well, ok, then. But I don't want to hear about any nonsense." - "No, mum", the boys chorused.

James raced upstairs to get dressed while Philip finished his breakfast. When they were both ready, they went into the living room, where the Floo jar was standing on the mantlepiece. James threw a bit of the powder into the flames and then stepped in, shouting "Diagon Alley!" Immediately, he started spinning so fast that all he could see was a blur of colours. Moments later, he fell out of the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron, but he managed to stay upright. When Phil had stumbled out behind him, the brothers made their way through the wall behind the Cauldron, to Diagon Alley.

It wasn't very crowded, as it was still July and most of the students didn't come here to buy their things until August. They went to Gringotts first, and then started buying James's things. He wouldn't need a new cauldron, as Phil had got a new bronze one for Christmas and had given his brother his old pewter cauldron, which he didn't need anymore.

First of all, James wanted to get his wand, so they went to Ollivander's before all else. They emerged again after fifteen minutes, shivering slightly, because Ollivander's shop was a lot colder than the air outside. They were quite glad to be outside in the sun again, but James was proudly clutching his first real wand.

Next, they got his books (Phil let him buy a small handbook of jinxes, too), and last of all they went to Madam Malkin's. As James was just standing on a stool, trying to hold still as Madam Malkin pinned his robes to their right length, a small, plump boy came in with a fairly large witch in bright green robes which clashed horribly with her hair. The boy climbed a chair next to James and smiled at him, looking a little frightened.

"Hi," said James, "starting Hogwarts as well?" - "Yeah", said the boy, "I got my letter yesterday. My name is Peter, by the way, what's yours?" - "James", said James, not very originally. But there was no time for more conversation, as Phil signalled to him from the counter that they should be going. "See you on the train", he said, jumping down from his stool and following his brother.

~***~

The holidays seemed to stretch and grow longer the more James wanted them to end. The weather grew unbearably hot, and he spent most of the days lying around, eating ice cream and trying to memorise the jinxes from the book he had bought in Flourish and Blotts. There were some good ones. Unfortunately, it was a very cheap print and there were no illustrations, but James amused himself by drawing some himself.

Phil left in the second week of August to attend his friend's wedding, and went back to work right afterwards. This of course left James lonelier than before. He didn't have many friends, because the Potters lived in a tiny Muggle village and although James played with the children there, there was so much of his life he couldn't share with them that he felt a bit of an outsider.

Finally, the holidays ended. Frank Potter, his father, drove James to London, in an ordinary Muggle car (although it was bewitched to run on water). James kept talking to his father, who hardly had to respond as it was more of a monologue, and after a while he even started to sing. Frank looked at his son sideways and said, with a grin, "I can understand why you're so happy, son, but I don't think that justifies you turning someone's ears into sponges before you've even started Transfiguration. You've got a terrible voice, son - and seeing as you got it from your poor old father, there's no need to look so offended."

They arrived at King's Cross just in time, but they had to hurry to get to the platform. Frank hugged his son, and then heaved him onto the train together with his trunk. As the train started to move, James leant out of the window, waving goodbye, his heart thumping excitedly at the thought that he was actually on the Hogwarts Express, which would take him to his future school.

~***~ ~***~ ~***~

James dragged his trunk along the corridor, looking for an empty compartment. At last he found one that was empty except for two boys, both about his own age. They had obviously just been arguing about something, but stopped when he came in.

"Hi", he said, "Mind if I join you here? Everywhere else is full." They both shook their heads. "Sure, come in," said the taller of the two, who had short, dark, untidy hair like James himself. "I'm Sirius Black, by the way, and that git" - he waved his hand in the direction of the other boy - "is Severus Snape. What's your name?"

James introduced himself, looking first at Sirius and then at Severus, who looked exceedingly angry about being introduced in this way. He was rather smaller than Sirius and looked exactly his opposite: His hair was combed back carefully, his robes were spotless and he was scowling in a way that showed that it was his usual expression.

Sirius, however, was grinning at James. "We were just having quite a good fight. Do you want to join in? The rules are basically that you keep shouting about which house is the best and why, while not listening to the other person's point of view." Severus snorted. "Oh, shut up, Black", he said. "We were simply talking about which houses we think we're going to be in", he added, looking at James. "Dou you have any idea yet?"

James looked at him and then at Sirius. "Well, my brother was in Gryffindor, and so was my father, so I guess it's pretty likely that I'll be there, too," he said cautiously. Sirius laughed. "Ok, now James here is taking my position as defender of Gryffindor, then I'll be for Ravenclaw."

Severus looked furious. "You can't just switch sides! Houses are more important than that! I'd die if I was sorted into Hufflepuff... though I guess Ravenclaw would be ok, too", he said, "but I really want to be in Slytherin."

Sirius stopped laughing. "Ok well, I'll admit I wasn't in earnest during our argument... and I think Slytherin could actually be quite a good house..." - Severus stopped scowling - "...if it weren't for the people," Black added, as an afterthought.

Furious, Snape jumped up and lunged at Sirius, who was grinning at him insolently. James caught hold of his robes and held him back.

"Hey, come on, Severus," he said, "don't you realise he's just teasing you? Anyway, what's the use of talking about houses before we get to the school?" Snape sat back down at these words, but he kept glowering at Sirius as if he were a dung beetle.

James tried to change the topic to something less controversial, to avoid another fight. He didn't like Severus too much, but he couldn't help liking Sirius; it almost seemed as if he'd always known him.

"So, what did you guys do during the holidays?", he asked.

Severus spoke first. "My father bought me a new broom in July, so I could start practising for Quidditch, and of course when I got my school books, I started reading those."

Sirius let out a derisive noise while James stared at him in disbelief. "You actually studied?", he said. "I think we're going to have to learn enough during term, why ruin your holidays as well?"

"Well said, friend," chuckled Sirius, while Snape looked annoyed.

"At least I'm starting my lessons well-prepared", he said acidly, "while you're probably not going to manage anything because you haven't learnt a single spell yet." - "Oh, I wouldn't say that," said James, looking sideways at Sirius, who obviously found the debate hilariously funny. "Only the spells I learned probably aren't on the curriculum."

Severus looked as if he was going to make some sort of scathing comment, so James went on hurriedly, "So, Sirius, how about you? Learnt any spells yet?" - Snape shut his mouth and turned to look out of the window, pretending not to hear their conversation.

They talked about spells and jinxes for a while, but it wasn't long before the train slowed down and came to a halt. The boys stopped talking abruptly. They had reached Hogsmeade station. James looked out of the window and could just make out, against a dark blue sky, the distant outline of a vast castle. They had reached Hogwarts.

~***~

As Sirius, Severus and James scrambled out of the train, they heard a deep voice shout, "Firs' years! Over here, come on now! Firs' years!"

A huge man was standing on the platform, holding up a lantern and waving, signalling for them to follow him.

"That's Hagrid", James said. "He's the gamekeeper here. My brother told me about him." Severus just shrugged, meaning that he had already known, but Sirius seemed interested. "Is he a giant? I've never seen anyone that large", he asked.

"Him a giant?", said Severus, "No, giants are much bigger. He's probably just overgrown, or maybe a bastard."

Sirius and James looked at him in disbelief. "You really aren't even trying to seem like a nice person, are you?" said Sirius with a look of disgust on his face. Snape looked daggers at him, but couldn't say anything, as Hagrid started to herd the first-years towards the shore of the lake. There they all got into the boats that would bring them to Hogwarts.

Sirius and James were relieved when they saw that Severus had got into a different boat that they, and they were joined by a boy and a girl they hadn't met yet. They introduced themselves as Charlie Bones and Anne O'Reilly.

Other than introducing themselves, however, they didn't talk much, as their boat now began to move slowly across the lake, towards the castle. The full moon was reflected in the water and the stars were glittering in a perfectly clear sky. The only sound that could be heard was the gentle lapping of the waves against the boats, and the occasional screech of an owl from the direction of the castle. As they drew nearer, they saw hundreds of little lights glittering in the windows. It was a wonderful sight.

At last they got to the entrance of the cave, and soon all first-years were following a teacher up the stairs, towards the castle's entrance hall. There, the teacher turned around and looked them over a few seconds before starting to talk. A few students shifted uncomfortable. The teacher was a woman in her early fifties, very stern-looking and not exactly the kind of teacher you'd want to cross.

"I'm Professor McGonagall, deputy Headmistress" she said. "I will lead you towards the Great Hall now, where you will be sorted into one of the four Hogwarts houses. Each house has its different values and customs, and as long as you are here, your house will be your family. I shall expect you to do your best this year, not only to learn as much as you can, but to do your house credit. If you do well, that will earn your house points, but if you misbehave" - she almost spat the word - "you will lose points, and you will diminish your house's chance to win the house championship. Now please line up in pairs and follow me," she added, "in an orderly fashion."

They formed as orderly a line as possible, and James noticed the boy he had met in the robe shop. He smiled, but the other boy - Peter - only gave a small whimper, obviously scared of the sorting ceremony.

Suddenly, the huge doors of the Great Hall opened, apparently of their own accord. The first-years trooped through, aware of every single pair of eyes in the hall turned towards them. They went to the front of the hall, where they lined up opposite the teacher's table. James noticed Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster, looking at each of them in turn piercingly. At the back of the hall were dozens of silvery ghosts watching them motionlessly.

Everyone seemed to be waiting for something. James was nervous, this was something neither his parents nor his brother had told him anything about. Suddenly he noticed a tattered old hat sitting on a stool right before him. Just as he was wondering how he could have overlooked it, as it looked so out of place in this splendid hall, a tear in its side opened wide, and it began to sing.

"For a thousand years I've sung my song
before the Welcome Feast;
I choose the House where you belong
and then you'll be released.

If, when in danger's path you stray,
you only laugh the more;
Courageous friend, there's just one way:
You are a Gryffindor!

If you seek wisdom reading books,
if knowledge is your law,
then, clever child, it all just looks
like you're a Ravenclaw!

If honesty you value most
and don't find working tough;
Industrious student! You may boast
that you're in Hufflepuff!

If you're resourceful, slick and sly,
if you'd give all to win;
Ambitious folk! You may rely
that you're in Slytherin!

The only thing you'll have to do
is put me on right here,
I'll choose the fitting house for you,
I'll get it right, don't fear!"

The Hall echoed with the applause of students and teachers alike, and James noted that most of the first-years looked extremely relieved. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who hadn't known what was coming.

'It must be even worse for the Muggle-borns', he had time to think, before Professor McGonagall strode to the front of the hall with a piece of parchment and started to read out the names of the students who were to be sorted.

"Anderson, Judith!"

A small girl with long, straight black hair was the first to put on the hat. She placed it on her head with a haughty gesture, and it was barely a second before the hat yelled, "Slytherin!"

Judith looked rather smug and went to join the Slytherin table, amid the clapping of her housemates.

"Barnes, Lucille!"

A rather pretty girl with brown, curly hair put on the hat - "Ravenclaw!"

"Black, Sirius!"

Sirius glanced at James briefly, smiled and winked, strode up to the front and placed the Sorting Hat on his head as if he were trying out a costume for a play. Several of the older students grinned. The hat wasn't as quick sorting Sirius as it had been with the other two, but finally, it shouted, "Gryffindor!"

Sirius grinned, took of the hat and went over to the Gryffindor table, where his housemates were cheering him heartily.

After that, "Bones, Charles" was sorted into Hufflepuff, then came various people James hadn't met, but then "O'Reilly, Anne" became another Gryffindor.

When McGonagall called "Pettigrew, Peter" to the front, James recognised the boy from Diagon Alley. He looked slightly green in the face, but he went to the front determinedly and rammed the hat onto his head. It took a rather long time to decide, but finally Peter, too, became a Gryffindor and sat down next to Anne.

"Potter, James!"

His stomach gave a nervous jolt, but he quickly went forward and put the hat onto his head. It slipped rather rakishly to one side, as he heard a voice murmur inside his head... "Now what have we here? hmmm... a bit of everything, I see. Quite intelligent, willing to work, too... cheeky, sly to a certain extent, but honest... exceptionally brave... ah yes. quite definitely - Gryffindor!"

Beaming, James slipped off the hat and sat down next to Sirius at the Gryffindor table. Sirius flashed him a grin. "Well done!", he said, "now we only have to hope that Snape gets his wish and is sorted into Slytherin."

He was, and he looked exceptionally smug as he joined his fellow Slytherins at their table. Judith Anderson gave him a sweet smile.

"I don't know, but that bunch doesn't look too pleasant to me", commented Sirius. - "Yeah, lucky we're not with them, right?" piped in Peter. "Right!", said James and Sirius simultaneously, and then they burst out laughing.

Finally the Sorting was over, and Dumbledore stood up, signalling for silence. He smiled at the rows of students and then started to speak.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts, dear students. I have a few things to tell you before you can start swallowing the plates. First of all, Professor Savoy has been forced to retire due to her state of health. In her stead, Professor Sybill Trelawney will be teaching Divination from now on." Dumbledore paused for the feeble applause that greeted this piece of information.

"Also, I have to stress once again that students should keep out of the Forest. It is extremely dangerous, and Mr Filch is not the only savage creature they might meet there." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as the students laughed.

"Speaking of the forest, a new tree has been planted in the grounds, near the forest's edge. It is a Whomping Willow, an exotic and very valuable plant that attempts to smash or crush anything that comes within the reach of its branches. For obvious reasons, therefore, I ask you not to go near this tree. Madam Pomfrey usually has enough to do with colds and Quidditch injuries, you don't have to annoy her by being beaten up by a vegetable." More laughter.

"Finally, I would like to pronounce the following request: Let the Feast begin."

As the students laughed and applauded, various delicious-looking types of food appeared in the formerly empty dishes on the tables. Realising how hungry he actually was, James piled a bit of everything onto his plate and started eating, not noticing anything else that was going on around him.

When the feast was finally over and the empty dishes had disappeared, a Prefect stood up and told the Gryffindor first-years to follow him.

He led them along so many corridors and staircases that James thought he'd never remember the way. Finally, they arrived in front of a portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress. She turned, looked down at them and asked, "Password?"

A couple of girls gasped. James guessed that they were Muggle-born and hadn't seen a moving portrait before. The Prefect gave the password ("dragon eggs"), and the portrait swung aside to reveal a hole in the wall through which the students now climbed.

The Gryffindor common room looked cozy enough, with a blazing fire and comfortable chairs to sit in. The Prefect, Simon Lester, held them a short speech on school rules and so forth, and then showed the boys and girls their respective dormitories. There were five girls that year, but apparently only three boys - Peter, James and Sirius.

The boys went to their dormitory together, being tired after the journey and the feast, and because of all the new things they had encountered at Hogwarts. They found that their trunks were already in their room, but there seemed to be one bed too many. They were too tired to think about that, however, and went to bed immediately.

An owl screeched in the night outside, while the full moon bathed the dormitory with a silvery light. Behind their velvet curtains, the three boys slept soundly...