Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and events from J.K. Rowling's wonderful Harry Potter books. I am writing this for my own enjoyment and hopefully for the enjoyment of readers. Anything you recognize belongs to JKR. The rest belongs to me.
Chapter 43: The Mystery of Peurom
Sirius didn't have time during the following week to dwell on Quidditch. The full moon was coming at the end of the week and Remus was starting to have his 'monthly' symptoms. He did his best to hide them from everyone, including his friends, however the Marauders could tell that Remus was feeling miserable. James suspected that this month's transformation would be worse than usual.
That inspired the boys to increase their dedication to the Animagus studies. They had been working on transfiguring inanimate objects and so far James had successfully transfigured Peter's shoes into a set of antlers. It took him a day to figure out how to transfigure them back, so Peter had to go to classes barefoot for a day. Remus suspected that James already knew how to reverse the spell and was having fun with Peter.
During the next few months the Animagus practice was progressing nicely. Sirius had managed to perfect the transfiguration of the legs of his desk chair into the feet of his dog. Even Peter finally managed to tranfigure the end of his quill into a long rat's tail.
Professor McGonagall was impressed with the boys' talent for Transfiguration in class. The other students seemed shocked because it seemed like none of the boys studied, except for Remus. Though Transfiguration was by far their best subject, James and Sirius did not suffer during their other classes. Things came naturally to them and they were near the top of their class, behind Remus and Lily. Peter, on the other hand, struggled to keep up with his studies. He was by no means studious, yet unlike James and Sirius, he was forced to miss out on some of their adventures to stay on top of his studies.
One afternoon during the last half of Potions James had finished his concoction early and sat back to enjoy a nap. As he looked around he noticed Snape adding the last of his ingredients to his potion. After he finished James noticed him flick a quick glance toward the front of the room, where Lily was hard at work. Even though it was a fleeting glance it made the hairs stand up on the back of James' neck. He shook his head, trying to convince himself that he had only imagined it.
Forgetting his nap, he spent the rest of class observing Snape. James saw him look over at Lily three more times. It wasn't his imagination! What was going on? James was certain that he was planning something horrible to do to Lily, probably in revenge for her standing up for him. James knew that Snape wouldn't want a Muggleborn witch standing up for him.
Sirius, who had been slumbering since he had finished his potion, woke as his head lolled back. He made a small snort as he woke and lazily looked over at James. He noticed James' closed off expression and clenched fists and followed his gaze toward Snape.
"Oy, Prongs," whispered Sirius. "What's Snivellus gone and done now?"
James forced himself to tear his glare from Snape for a moment to answer Sirius. "He keeps looking over at Evans. I think he's planning on doing something to her."
Sirius looked over to the Slytherin in question just as he sent Lily another fleeting glance. Sirius narrowed his eyes and said, "Well, we'll just have to teach him to keep his large nose out of her way."
"Agreed," said James.
This was how it became- James and Sirius made it their mission to pick on Snape, more so than ever before. It started out as a mission to teach him a lesson, but soon became a hobby and a way to show off. Most people did not care for Snape and found the things James and Sirius did amusing. There were a few times when Lily was around and she attempted to put an end to the pranking, only to be met by a silly grin from James and amused looks from Sirius. James would run his hand through his hair and try to charm his way out of her bad graces. Most of the time she would storm off, but a few times she drew her wand and sent a bat-bogey hex straight into James. She was particularly proud of perfecting the spell and grateful that Marlene had taught it to her.
Even though James and Sirius were good at covering their tracks and occasionally charming the professors, they still earned several detentions for their antics. One night they were on their way back from one of the old classrooms, where they had been forced by Filch to clean it from top to bottom without magic. Instead of cheating with magic like they were normally able to do Filch decided to stay and supervise, criticizing everything they did. By the end of the detention James and Sirius were sweaty and covered in dust. It was late and they were walking back to Gryffindor tower, silently discussing how they were going to get back at Filch.
As they rounded a corner, they were surprised to see Professor Peurom further down the corridor. Their DADA professor had his back turned to the boys and had not noticed their presence. He was shaking and hyperventilating, like something had just tried to attack him. Sirius pulled James behind one of the suits of armor so they could watch without being seen.
Suddenly Professor Peurom started moaning and crying out, "Why can't you leave me alone? I will not help you! I cannot help ALL of you!"
James and Sirius exchanged curious glances before hearing footsteps approach. They saw their headmaster approaching Peurom from the opposite end of the corridor. When he reached Peurom he gently placed a hand on the terrified man's shoulder and said, "You know better than to be out here at this time of night, Lazarus."
Peurom shuddered and shakily replied, "It doesn't matter, Albus. They follow me wherever I go, whether I'm in my quarters or out here."
"You mean the-" started Dumbledore.
Peurom broke away from Dumbledore's grasp and interrupted, "YES! I came here hoping to find some peace, hoping they would leave me alone! It's futile!"
Professor Dumbledore adjusted the half-moon glasses on his nose for a moment before responding. "So do I take that to mean that your replacement has not been successful?"
Peurom looked down before wearily shaking his head. "No, and I doubt he ever will be. I am the one who studied it for 10 years, and I am the only one who knows its secrets."
"So what will that mean for the Ministry? Will you take your old job back?" asked Dumbledore.
"Absolutely not! I am having a difficult enough time hearing…them…that I can't possibly face being so close to it again. I suspect the room will be closed off for some time. Maybe someone else will be as successful in discovering its secrets as I had been. I just feel sorry for the poor bloke who is…the responsibility that goes with it is immense," replied Peurom.
Dumbledore nodded grimly and directed Peurom down the hall. "Come, Lazarus. I will take you to Professor Pilon. I am sure she will have some spare dreamless sleep potion tucked away."
Peurom nodded and said, "Yes, that sounds good. Thank you, Albus."
James and Sirius watched the two depart and then gave each other looks filled with confusion.
"What do you reckon that was about?" asked Sirius.
"No idea, but I suspect it has something to do with Peurom's job as an Unspeakable," said James.
"Who do you think Peurom keeps hearing? I didn't see anybody else, and I doubt Dumbledore'd let anyone horrible into the school, not after what Riddle did a few years ago," said Sirius.
James scowled at the mention of Professor Riddle, but turned his thoughts back to the current mystery. "I've heard there are strange things that go on down at the Department of Mysteries. It sounds like he was working with something dangerous, maybe a way to interrogate dark wizards. Perhaps those are the voices he is hearing," suggested James.
Before Sirius could say anything they heard a distinct 'meow' from behind them. Mrs. Norris had seen them still out in the corridors after curfew and was signaling to Filch that she had caught them. James and Sirius decided to make a run for it and took off, but not before Sirius could fire off a spell turning the feline's fur scarlet and gold.
After they made it back to their dormitory they woke Remus and Peter and filled them in on what they had heard. Neither had any idea what Peurom had been referring to, but Remus decided he would nose around the library for more information on the Department of Mysteries.
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As their third year continued the Marauders' schedule was packed. James had Quidditch practice most afternoons, and was pleased to have fulfilled his self-promise to beat Malfoy in the Gryffindor-Slytherin match. He had to admit that Lyons was talented. She had meshed well with the team, able to dodge Bludgers and make difficult passes as well as score several goals. Gryffindor had been pulling ahead by quite a margin, though it was still up to James to seal the victory, which he expertly did by soaring in front of Malfoy nearly knocking him off his broom. James then proceeded down the pitch to where he had seen the Snitch and made the catch.
When James wasn't at Quidditch practice he was practicing his transformation. He had the antler transfiguration down but couldn't quite perfect the leg and hoof transfiguration. Like Sirius, he used the legs of his chair. Even though they successfully transformed, they were a bit too short and stocky, and the shape of the hooves was a little off.
Sirius was working on the consistency and length of his dog's fur. He usually practiced on his comforter, causing a thick layer of black fur to sprout. At one awkward moment Frank Longbottom had returned to the dormitory earlier than expected to see Sirius transforming his blanket. After Frank gave him an odd look and asked what was going on, Sirius gathered his wits and smiled saying he was cold and thought having a fur blanket would be warmer. While Sirius was explaining himself James was frantically transforming his chair back to normal before Frank could notice.
Remus was busy as usual keeping up with his studies, trying not to fall behind despite missing a few days of class every month. He was shocked and relieved that no one else had discovered the truth, that they still believed his stories about going home to visit his mum. The ones he was most worried about were Lily and Emm, his study partners. They were his friends and he noticed Lily giving him odd looks as he told them that he would yet again be missing school to see his mum. With each month Lily asked more questions about his mum's illness and if there was any hope for a cure. Remus would try to skirt the questions or at the very most give vague answers. He did not want to get too detailed for fear of contradicting himself sometime in the future.
One evening Remus came back into the dormitory and fell onto the bed in exhaustion. He had been in the library for several hours and the full moon was a few days away. He could feel the familiar ache settling into his joints. His friends approached him and sat on the bed beside him. Frank was still in the common room, trying to finish his Potions essay.
"How did it go?" asked Sirius.
Remus rubbed his temples for a moment before responding. "No luck whatsoever. There was nothing I could find that mentioned a 'Lazarus Peurom' nor could I find any details about projects at the Department of Mysteries."
"So that's it?" asked Peter. "We give up?"
"Unless you have any bright ideas," said Remus.
"Maybe you're searching in the wrong place," said James.
Remus wearily turned toward James and said, "If you want books on this, I don't see any other place to search than the library."
"That's not what I meant," said James. "Maybe you're searching the wrong part of the library."
Sirius nodded his head and said, "The Restricted Section. You haven't searched there, have you?"
"No, I haven't. That's not a bad idea though. I would need to borrow your invisibility cloak, James," said Remus.
"No problem," replied James. He observed his sickly friend for a moment before adding, "You can borrow it next week after you're back."
Remus finally noticed Sirius' bed and turned to his friend with a small grin. "Interesting blanket, Padfoot."
Sirius shrugged and said, "I like it - had to tell Longbottom I was cold and that was why I added the fur. I just have to figure out a charm to keep the fleas off of it." As he said that Sirius reached behind his neck with his hand and started scratching. Remus started laughing but Sirius sent him a scathing look and said, "I wouldn't laugh if I were you. I probably caught them from you, Wolf-Boy."
Despite the werewolf jab Remus still laughed. He knew Sirius was just being playful and trying to lighten the subject. As he glanced over at Sirius' bed again, covered in thick black dog fur, he silently reminded himself again of how grateful he was to have friends who went to such lengths for him.
"Thanks," said Remus. The others noticed the sudden serious tone to his voice. They knew to what he was referring.
"Forget about it," said James.
"No, really. Thanks," Remus repeated. "Whether you're successful or not or even if it takes years to accomplish, I'm grateful and I wanted you to know that."
Sirius looked taken aback. "What do you mean IF we're successful? We WILL succeed! Look at how far we've come along already. Even Wormtail figured out how to transform his quill and that's saying a lot!"
Peter gave Sirius a big smile, even though what was said wasn't entirely a compliment.
"C'mon," said James. "I'm in the mood for a late-night snack. Padfoot and I can go to the kitchen and gather a midnight feast from the house elves and we'll bring it back up here."
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As James and Sirius waited in the kitchens for the house elves to finish packing their goodies, Sirius turned to James and asked, "So are you going home for the winter holiday?"
James pondered silently for a moment before replying, "I dunno. I guess I should since I didn't go home last year. My mum'll get on my case if I'm gone for two years straight. What about you? What are your plans?"
"Same as usual," he replied.
"Avoiding your family, you mean?" James asked.
Sirius nodded glumly.
"Come stay with my mum and me. I'm sure she'll be fine with it. She really likes you and the house is too large for just her and me and our house elf," said James.
Sirius studied James for a moment and said, "If you're sure she won't mind…"
"I'm sure! Are you coming or not?" asked James.
Sirius grinned and said, "I wouldn't miss it! I'm kind of curious to see that portrait of your dad, too."
"It takes some getting used to. I still have to work on that…" said James. Even though it seemed like he was doing Sirius a big favor by bringing him to his house for the holiday, James felt that Sirius was doing him a favor. It would be his first Christmas at home without his dad (since last Christmas was spent at the school). Sirius would find a way to liven things up and James wouldn't have to see the forced cheerfulness from his mum as she pretended that everything would be fine.
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A/N: So another subplot / mystery begins - the one with Professor Peurom. Got it figured out yet? Part of it will be pretty easy to work out. One warning, though - some answers may be left unanswered. This is one of those instances where this mystery may reappear in one of the sequels.
Thanks to my latest reviewers: Golden Phoenix, Mani12191, lilly flower, Alicia, Anonymous (x2), sweetie513, nanopy, and mystical cah (x2).
Next chapter: The students go home for the winter holiday. We'll see one memory of Lily that Petunia mentioned to Harry.