With students at each other's throats, mysterious meetings being held at all hours, and a Head Boy that makes her toes curl, Lily's final year is anything but predictable. The only thing she's certain of this year is that everyone seems to have a secret. [A/N] (7/27/08) This is rewritten version of the previously posted Knights. Hope you enjoy the new and improved story!
From the Unofficial Portkey Archive: https://portkey-archive.org/story/8146/
TITLE: The Knights of Walpurgis
AUTHOR: Clio
RATED: PG-13
Summary: With students at each other's throats, mysterious meetings being held at all hours, and a Head Boy that makes her toes curl, Lily's final year is anything but predictable. The only thing she's certain of this year is that everyone seems to have a secret.
DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and the characters and places associated with same are the sole property of J.K. Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended. This story was written for my own amusement, as I am currently entertaining a healthy obsession with the books, and, hopefully, the amusement of others. Please do not sue me because I have no money, and what little money I do have is spent on things like food and a place to live. If you feel compelled to sue, rest assured that all you will get out of me is a computer with all the research, plot outlines and character sketches for this story saved on it, a few boxes of Macaroni and Cheese (maybe some Captain Crunch if you're lucky) and my sizable late fee at Blockbusters from renting British movies (the BBC rocks!!). So let us review: No Potter me-owny, but big late fee me-havey. Don't sue!
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IMPORTANT A/N: I am rewriting this fic! Not that the previous one was all that bad, but it wasn't going in a direction that I wanted. I'm also using this opportunity to bring Knights into canon for all seven books since there were some revelations in Deathly Hallows that impact my story. I hope my readers enjoy the new fic, but if you'd still like to read what I had posted of the old Knights you can find it on Fanfiction.net; search the author name “Goddess.Clio” (without quotation marks) or the story title “The Knights of Walpurgis” (again without quotation marks). Thanks for all the reviews I had received and I hope that my reviewers will let me know how the rewrite is going! =^)
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Knights of Walpurgis
PART I
Chapter 1
.:*~* The Girl with the Badge *~*:.
“Confirm your date of birth, please.”
“January 30, 1960.”
“And you live at number ten, Cowper Crescent, Waterford, Hertfordshire, correct?” he asked.
Lillian Evans was no longer reassured by the new security measures the Ministry of Magic had put into effect over the summer. “Yes,” she replied.
“I work in the Hertford office. Why did I not see you come in for registration?”
“You must have been out. So I saw someone else.”
He leafed through the papers on his counter, a worried look on his face, then brightened. “Ah, yes. Mr. Nelson. Good.”
Lily regarded the desk clerk. He was only a few years older than she. Not too bad looking. But maybe she'd been standing there too long. He had probably volunteered thinking he would be thrust into the Ministry's exciting world of intrigue and espionage, or whatever, not stuck behind a counter verify and logging the location of traveling wizards. She said, “That's right.”
He turned back to her papers. “Student?”
“Yes.”
“Hogwarts?”
She said, wearily, “Yes, Hogwarts. Gryffindor.”
“Let me just confirm that.” He shoved Lily's paperwork to the side and consulted a long list of what looked to be students' names. Lily had become impatient with these security measures. She felt as if she were making a major border crossing at every magical locality she visited. At least, she thought, this time it was going smoother than at Diagon Alley.
As the clerk flipped through the pages Lily's attention strayed to the queues stretching out behind her. Her friend Eve Bleher stood behind her boyfriend Mark Cooper. Both looked bored as Mark confirmed his own information with another clerk. She caught Eve's eye and she gave and exaggerated roll of her eyes. Eve smirked in agreement. A Ravenclaw sixth-year named Dirk Creswell stood with his arms folded over his chest and chewing a wad of gum, apparently unaware that the clerk was calling for him to step forward. A few lines over stood Remus Lupin. His parents were standing close around him, glancing around anxiously. He looked pale and sickly, as though he were getting over pneumonia or something, and not at all like he should be sent off to school. His mother brushed a lock of hair off his forehead fussily. Remus looked over and waved at her, embarrassedly. She smiled back.
A gesture in a line closer to her caught her eye. Severus Snape's hand was held up in a wave, his face stretched in a weak but hopeful smile. All around him stood seventh-year Slytherins, Zachary Angston, Isaac Avery and Morgana Flint among them. As Lily appraised the group she noticed the smile on Severus's face fade. Avery gave Snape's shoulder a shove to recall him to the conversation. Lily could feel Morgana Flint's cold blue eyes sear into her from across the terminal and saw her lips form the word “Mudblood.”
“I see it here,” the clerk recalled her attention. “Lillian May Evans. Gryffindor. Seventh year.” He raised his eyebrows. “Head Girl.”
“That would be me.”
He checked her off on the list, then gathered her paperwork back into its folder and handed it to her. “I've never been to Hogwarts,” the clerk said. “Wasn't good enough to get in, I suppose.”
Lily couldn't think of a reply to this, so she stayed silent.
“Went to LaRance. Bloody awful school, if you ask me.”
She hadn't.
The clerk picked up a large bag that jingled and extracted a one pound coin from it. He tapped the coin with his wand and handed it to her, along with her paperwork. “This is your pass to get through the barrier. Present this coin to the appropriate representative on platform ten. Do not lose it.”
“Maybe I should staple it to my forehead,” Lily suggested, steering her trolley past him. Either he hadn't been paying attention or the comment was lost on him because the clerk bid her good day and called his next victim forward without a reply. Lily wrestled her trolley to a halt next to Mark who had also finished his paperwork and was leaning heavily against his trunk and reading a folded copy of the Daily Prophet.
“What do you reckon?” he asked, nodding toward the bank of counters. “They worth it?”
Lily stuffed her folder of paperwork into her satchel. “Oh yes,” she replied, heartily. “Despite the fact that they're an inefficient and useless nuisance and have yet to prove that they are effective in performing the only task they were implemented for—” But Lily didn't need to finish the sentence; Mark seemed to understand that she was as fed up with the Verification Stations as he was.
A Muggle family wandered past the queues of students clogging the terminal of King's Cross, looking curiously at the ensemble of interesting people who filled the lines. Lily supposed they were wondering if they had missed some announcement about the vital importance of standing in lines and watched a few stop to ponder whether or not they should join the queues.
“Should I wait?” she said to Mark.
He shook his head and replied that she could save them a compartment on the train. Eve gave her a wave from her counter and steered her trolley in the direction of platform nine and three-quarters. As she strode purposefully through the station she reflected on things. These new Ministry restrictions and procedures were not only annoying, she decided, but a little scary. Sure, there were reasons for them to be in place, more reasons that anyone wanted to admit. But the continual series of check points and seemingly endless supplies of ill-tempered clerks was growing old. Lily tried to recall the article on the front page of the Daily Prophet Mark had been reading. Mishaps at the Ministry, the title had read. The article, which she had scanned that morning, went on to condemn the Ministry's horrible display during the last raid where no less than seven Death Eaters had escaped capture, followed by the equally dismal trial which had resulted in only one incarceration and four releases. It was the kind of article that only fueled public speculation about the incompetence of the Ministry of Magic, and was the cause of the massive exodus from public life that so many wizard families had undergone.
Lily reached platform ten and found an old beggar sitting in front of the barrier rattling a tin can at passers-by. He gave her a knowing wink and she understood that he was the “appropriate representative” the clerk had referenced. She dropped the coin in his tin and passed through the barrier.
Platform nine and three-quarters, usually tinged with an air of excitement, was oddly tense. Lily knew that four of her close friends would not be returning to Hogwarts this year, or rather, Lily thought, their families had given them no choice in the matter, and as she made for a carriage toward the middle of the train she noticed that the sentiment was apparently shared by many other wizard families; the platform had a strangely vacant feeling though there were many people occupying it. The only joyous sounds were coming from two laughing girls. As Lily passed them, however, she realized that they were laughing at a third-year who had tripped over a trunk and the laughter soon died away. She also noticed, as they moved along the platform, that most of the compartments on the train appeared to be empty. Even the students in the long lines of the Verification Stations wouldn't fill the train to capacity.
A Muggle man helped Lily hoist her trunk onto the train as he told her he was dropping off his daughter for Hogwarts.
“It's her first year,” he grinned, pulling his daughter toward himself. Lily looked down at the eleven-year-old girl, remembering fondly her first trip on the Hogwarts Express. “Her mum had to rush into work this morning or else she'd be here too,” the man continued unnecessarily. “Her name is Shannon.” He added, quietly, “She's a little nervous. I am too, come to that - just found out about this wizard stuff five months ago.”
Lily said hello to the girl who smiled back. Shannon had champagne-blond hair that suited her well, and as she looked around the platform she wore an eager, hungry expression as though she could barely contain her excitement. Lily knelt down so she was on a level with her. “I'm Lily, the Head Girl and I'm Muggle-born, too,” she said, kindly. “I know it can be a little scary on your first day but you look like you'll be having too much fun to feel scared. You'll make lots of friends and write to your parents every day if you want to and tell them all about how you're turning cups into kittens and levitating feathers and you can post the letters by owl.” Lily smiled as she saw Shannon's eyes brighten. “Do you have your wand?”
The girl nodded, smiling for the first time and produced a long tapered wand of walnut.
“And a cat,” Shannon pointed behind her where a beautiful chestnut-colored cat with large yellow eyes sat in a small carrier. “I'm going to be the best witch in the world,” Shannon proclaimed, waving her wand. A few errant sparks emanated from the end.
Lily smiled. “I'm sure you are, Shannon. Well,” she said, straightening. “If you ever have a problem or are feeling homesick you come and talk to me, alright?”
Shannon nodded, smiling even more widely. Her father gave Lily a grateful nod as Lily climbed aboard the train. Settling into a compartment, she watched out the window as Shannon and her father hugged goodbye and she boarded the train.
A few minutes went by as Lily settled herself in the seat next to the window. She watched the Slytherins she had seen in line pass through the barrier. Severus glanced down the platform and then followed his friends toward the other end of the train. Several members of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team filed through, accompanied by their parents, followed by Eve and Mark. They boarded the train.
Lily shifted in her seat. Her mind drifted to her old friend. She thought she had known Severus Snape well. After all, it was he who had been her first link to the magical world, he who she had spent hot summer afternoon laying by to her on the banks of the river that flowed through Waterford. But it was also he who had shown so much interest in the Death Eaters when they had begun to garner a name for themselves only a few years ago. Lily had thought at first that his interest in them was merely curiosity. Severus did, after all, have a strange fascination with the dark arts. Then she had thought that he was succumbing to some sort of peer pressure from the other Slytherins who were clearly a bad influence. She shook her head. He did hang out with the wrong sort of people. He wasn't who Lily would describe as the most confident of young men and the kind of camaraderie the Slytherins had offered would probably be very tempting to him.
She sighed, thinking about the argument they had had at the end of their fifth year. That was the last time she had really talked to Severus, and even then it was against her will. She didn't know what to think of him anymore. A part of her still wanted to believe that he was still the boy she grew so fond of as a little girl. She wanted to run up to him in the corridors of Hogwarts and beg him to see sense. A larger part of her, however, was still resentful of him calling her a Mudblood, still disgusted by his apology, still disturbed by his growing desire to become a Death Eater. She shifted again, watching the barrier through the clear window. She had never told anyone this before. He had never come right out and said that's where things were headed for him, but she knew. He couldn't hide it from her. Her sixth year had been plagued with the burning desire to tell McGonagall or Dumbledore, or even Slughorn that there could potentially be Death Eaters within the walls of Hogwarts very soon. But the friend in her didn't want to implicate Severus and there was no other way to explain how she knew such controversial information.
The compartment door slid open and Eve Bleher and Mark Cooper entered in the midst of an argument.
“They certainly kept you from visiting me,” Eve said rather huffily, throwing herself onto the seat opposite Lily.
“I visited you loads of times,” Mark retorted.
“Twice. You visited me seven times a day last Christmas holiday.”
“I was in Cornwall with my family for half the summer. And last Christmas I visited so often because I was trying to get in your pants then. Now all I have to do is— Oof!”
Eve had elbowed him in the stomach.
“That is why I didn't visit,” Mark grumbled, massaging his gut.
“I didn't hit you that hard, cry-baby.” Mark muttered morosely and Eve rolled her eyes at Lily. “You look miserable, Lil. What's up?”
Lily shook her head, stood and leaned out the open window. She watched parents reluctantly letting their children board the train, a few calling the back for third and fourth hugs goodbye. Remus's father was hoisting his luggage onto the train as his mother fussed over him some more. He seemed to have twice the usual amount of luggage, which struck Lily as odd. Lexi-Ann LaRayne and Daphne Jones, the girls who had laughed at the fallen third-year, were now eyeing Rodney Lingard, captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, as he walked past with his friends.
The compartment door opened again.
Adriana Devereaux stepped into the compartment, sweeping her ashy brown hair over her shoulder and crossing her arms over her chest. In her hand was a copy of the new room assignments. “So I guess we're rooming together this year,” she said without as much as a precursory greeting.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Eve replied, coolly.
“This means we'll be spending more time together than we have in the past,” Adriana added, unnecessarily.
“Looking forward to it,” Lily replied, hoping this statement would prove true. She had never really cared much for Adriana Devereaux, who, in Lily's estimation, was one of the more irritating girls in Gryffindor. She was often in the company of Salendra Prasad and Camille Castillo of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff respectively, and the three were known throughout Hogwarts as the biggest gossips in their houses. One had to be cautious of what was said around Adriana, Salendra and Camille lest it be school wide news the next day.
“Congratulations on Head Girl, by the way,” Adriana said.
Lily grunted as she watched the number of new arrivals through the barrier peter off. “Much good it'll do me this year, only half the school's come back.”
Eve said, “You'll have an easy time of it then.”
“With the fearsome foursome entering into their last year?” Lily scoffed. “Fat chance.”
A tall, very handsome boy with dark hair paused outside the open compartment door. He stuck his head in. “You rang?”
Mark looked up. “Hi, Sirius. Good summer?”
“It was alright,” Sirius replied, unenthusiastically, his grey eyes roaming the compartment and landing on Adriana. He wagged his eyebrows at the brunette who returned his leer with a steely glare and sat merely to put distance between them. “Already in your uniform, eh, Evans?” Lily leaned her back against the window. Every year she came to King's Cross in the skirt and white button-down shirt of her Hogwarts uniform, and every year Sirius made a point to comment on it, despite her numerous attempts to explain: It was just easier than changing on the train. Her indulgence this year was to wear her newly minted Head Girl badge, which she was now wishing she hadn't put on. Sirius said, “Say, has James been by to hit on you yet?”
Mark snorted, Eve giggled, and Adriana rolled her eyes disgustedly.
Lily accidentally-on-purpose trod on Eve's toes as she shifted her weight. She said to Sirius, “No. And I don't care for him to. Could you tell him that for me?”
Sirius's handsome features twisted into an expression of deepest regret. “I could, but… I mean, you know he won't listen.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said, despondently, turning back to the window.
“If you see him, could you let me know?” Sirius asked. Lily noted there was an undertone in Sirius's voice as he asked this. Was it concern?
She shrugged noncommittally and heard him leave, but she remembered something and called him back. “Could you tell Remus that the prefects are meeting at half past eleven?”
“Sure. See you later.” He nodded at her Head Girl badge. “Congratulations, by the way. I look forward to working with you this year.”
“Ha ha,” Lily replied, tonelessly, though she was wearing a small smile. “Do me a favor and go easy on me the first few weeks?”
Sirius grinned, knowingly. “Oh, Miss Evans, just you wait. In time you'll realize that I'm the least of your problems.” With that he disappeared from view.
“What's that supposed to mean?” Lily asked the others, “'I'm the least of your problems.' If he's the least of my problems this year, than I'll be a monkey's uncle.”
Lily collapsed into the seat opposite Adriana noting that Eve and Mark hadn't heard a word of this as they were engaged in a hushed conversation behind an open leaf of the Daily Prophet. Adriana, however, was watching Lily closely. Lily hoped the rest of the year wouldn't be like this. The train's whistle gave a sharp blast and the carriage shuddered.
“Shouldn't you be gathering the Prefects?” Adriana asked suddenly.
Lily blinked at her. “They know what to do.”
“You just told Sirius Black to remind Remus…” Adriana replied, open-endly.
“I wasn't reminding Remus.”
“Yes you were. You told Sirius to tell Remus—”
Lily sighed, feeling irritated. “I told Sirius to tell Remus about the meeting, not because I actually wanted him to tell Remus or because Remus needed reminding, but because Sirius and James need to be told every so often that Remus has responsibilities to the school that they can't override with stupid jokes and time-wasting funny-business.”
Adriana raised her eyebrows but said nothing. Lily returned to the window, knowing that tomorrow the whole school would be informed of how Lily felt that Sirius and James were useless lay-abouts and Remus was irresponsible when in reality only the first half of that statement was true. Okay, Lily reconciled with herself, James and Sirius weren't entirely useless, just occasionally overly rambunctious. Great, she thought, just great.
“Did you hear what happened to him over the holiday?” Eve asked, curiously.
Adriana asked, “Who?”
“James.”
“I heard he broke his ankle,” Mark said, absently, turning a page of the Prophet.
Eve's face fell. “Really? I heard it was his wrist.”
Lily asked, “Why not his neck?” Adriana laughed in a way that unsettled Lily. “Where did you hear that?”
“From Camille Castillo,” Eve replied. “She's in the next carriage; We ran into her looking for you.”
Adriana perked up at the promise of juicy gossip and said, joyously, “Camille told me that she saw James every time she was at St. Mungo's this summer. Her granddad is ill, you know, and she visits him quite often, and she said that James seemed to always be there.”
Curiosity took hold and Lily turned. “Why was he there?”
Adriana leaned forward, conspiratorially. “That's the big secret. Nobody I've talked to seems to know. I've heard some things, of course,” Adriana waved her hand dismissively, “but I know they're all lies.”
Lily moved back to the window, listening as Eve prodded Adriana for more tidbits about James Potter. She was annoyed with herself for feeling curious about how James spent his holidays, but couldn't help but strain her ears to listen as Adriana sped through all the possible reasons for his frequent appearances at the wizard's hospital.
Just then Lily saw a familiar head of untidy black hair pushing its way through the crowd of parents still on the platform followed by a thundering out in the hall of the train. She turned in time to see Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew sprint past, their heavy foot falls hammering onto the floor of the carriage. She leaned out the window and saw many others doing the same.
With two sharp blasts of the whistle, the train shuddered and began to creep forward. Lily could see Sirius's hanging out the door two carriages back beckoning to the boy in the crowd. Lily glanced around. The students hanging out the windows of the Hogwarts Express cheered and waved and James Potter ran down the platform, his robes flapping behind him. Putting on a burst of speed he sprinted forward, clasped Sirius's outstretched hand and was wrenched aboard the train.
“I'm going to find Celeste. Do you want to come?” Eve asked Lily, standing. Lily turned her back on the window as it dived into the tunnel on its way out of London.
“No, I need to find Clay,” Lily said, referring to Clayton Bosworth, the Head Boy.
Eve turned to her boyfriend. “Mark?”
“Nah, I'm off to see the chaps down the way to talk about bloke things.”
“Bloke things?” Eve cocked an eyebrow.
“Bloke things,” Mark repeated. “You know: Quidditch, brooms, girls… maybe exchange a few stories of recent sexual escapades, see whose porn collection as grown the most over the summer…”
“Alright,” Eve laughed. “Go, go.” He grinned at her.
“I'll come with you,” Adriana said, standing as Eve and Lily moved toward the door.
“Oh,” Eve said, unable to hide the surprise in her voice. “Er… okay, I guess.”
She and Lily exchanged looks as they stepped out into the narrow hallway, but it was already crowded.
“—He could have been really dramatic and jumped onto the caboose,” Remus Lupin was saying as Sirius heaved a trunk through the awkward, narrow hallway. “Then you'd be dragging that trunk about ten cars farther than you already are.” James slapped his friend on the shoulder, an exhausted sort of smile spread over his face.
“Good to see you, mate.”
“Almost missed the train, James,” Remus chided in a friendly manner. “Remember to set your alarm next time.”
“What made you so late, Prongs?” Peter Pettigrew called, bobbing along carrying James's great horned owl.
The groups collided as the boys stopped in front of Lily's compartment, Sirius panting from his efforts with the trunk.
Adriana pointed out to Sirius, “Potter is right behind you.”
Sirius gave her a withering look. “Yes, thank you. That's very helpful.” He gave the trunk a great tug, lost his balance and toppled to the floor. Adriana laughed. He climbed to his feet, muttering obscenities under his breath.
“Excuse us,” came a tittering voice behind Mark. He pressed himself to the side of the corridor and Daphne Jones and Lexi-Ann LaRayne squeezed past. They unceremoniously stepped over what Lily realized was James's trunk, wiggling their way in between the boys. Lily suppressed a smile as Peter went pale and Remus blushed. Daphne stopped in front of James and put a hand on his chest.
“I'm so sorry to hear you were ill this summer,” she simpered. James brow furrowed.
“Pardon me?” he said.
“Are you feeling better?” Daphne asked.
“Er… yeah,” James replied, wearing a puzzled grin. “Much.”
Daphne leaned into him and cooed, “Perhaps we could get together sometime and I could help you feel even better.”
Remus and Sirius snorted back their laughter.
James replied, “Sure.” And Daphne and Lexi-Ann continued into the next carriage. James's hazel eyes turned to Sirius who adopted an innocent expression.
“Don't look at me, Prongs, I never said a word.”
Mark moved away and Sirius righted the trunk blocking the corridor and began heaving it forward again. Adriana, Eve and Lily made room for him as he passed.
Remus walked by and Lily said, “The Prefects' meeting is in half an hour. Make sure these dimwits don't make you late for it.”
James adopted a pained expression, put his arm around his friend's shoulder and addressed the Head Girl, “Now, Evans, we would never do anything to infringe upon our dear friend's responsibilities in any way, shape or form and it hurts that you feel that way about us. It truly does.”
Eve giggled as Sirius clambered over the trunk blocking the hallway and tapped Remus on the shoulder. “Did you know you have a prefect's meeting in half an hour?”
Remus leaned toward Sirius and they exchanged shifty looks. “Where did you get this information?”
Sirius cocked his toward Lily. “Heard it from the girl with the badge.”
“But do you think she can be trusted? This information may be… unreliable.” Peter joined in, throwing an appraising eye at Lily, who leaned against the wall and cocked an eyebrow at the mousy boy.
“Well,” James pointed out, “She does have a badge.” The four boys turned and gave Lily's Head Girl badge a calculating look.
“And Remus has a badge as well…” Sirius noted, tapping the piece of metal pinned to his shirt so that it gave a little tink-tink-tink in the crowded hallway.
Peter scratched his chin, “Fair point, that is. Never thought of that.”
“So does that mean Remus is reliable, then?” James asked, casting a suspicious look at his friend.
Sirius thought a moment, then said, as though it were the only explanation, “It must, he's got a badge.” His eyes flickered to something in James's hand. “And, what do you know! You've got a badge as well!”
James did an exaggerated double take and held up his silver Quidditch Captain badge. “So I have!”
Remus nodded. “That settles it then. We've all got badges.”
Peter's face fell and he said sulkily, “I don't have a badge.”
Eve rolled her eyes. “Get out of here, you silly sods, or you'll make Remus late.”
Sirius pretended not to hear her and said, seriously, “You know, we'd better get a move on. We don't want to make Remus late.”
Peter turned to him quizzically. “Late for what?”
“Oh, didn't you hear? I have a prefect's meeting in half an hour.”
“Did you happen to see Clay Bosworth at that end of the train?” Lily interjected, before the absurd routine really got out of hand.
“Why would you be looking for him?” James asked, “Unless…” He grinned, roguishly. “You two aren't…” He made an obscene hand gesture.
“No, we aren't—” Lily repeated the gesture. “I need to talk to him before the meeting.”
“Why?”
“None of your business, Potter.” He raised an eyebrow at the use of his surname, which she had stopped using the previous year. Lily rolled her eyes. “It's Head stuff.”
“Clay's not Head Boy,” Peter said, suddenly.
She looked at him. “Yes he is.”
Remus shook his head. “No, he's not.”
Lily's shoulders slumped. Clay Bosworth wasn't Head Boy? But he was the only possible choice out of the seventh-year Prefects to be Head Boy! Fletcher Stebbins was too indecisive, Remus was too nice and Lily would resign her post if she had to work wit—
“Oh god…” she said, feel a little queasy as the train picked up speed. “It's not… It's not Rabastan Lestrange?”
The group erupted in exclamations.
“What?”
“I'd rather die than—”
“It can't be—”
“Rabastan?”
“IT'S NOT LESTRANGE!!” Remus bellowed, securing everyone's attention.
“Is it you?” Lily asked, hopefully.
“No,” Remus said. “It's James.”
Lily thought her heart had stopped for a moment as she stared at James, who looked didn't look unhappy with the appointment but neither did he seem over the moon about it.
“James… Oh,” Lily said, forcing a strained smile onto her face. “That's…” Pretty awful.
He said, bluntly, “You don't have to pretend to be happy about it.”
The smile wilted, but she kept staring at him. James Potter as Head Boy? Why? What was Dumbledore thinking? What in the world made James Potter qualified to be Head Boy when he had spent most of the previous six years in detentions?
“We need to go,” James pointed out to his friends. “The meeting and all…”
Lily watched the four boys shuffle into the next carriage and vaguely heard Eve and Adriana call good-byes to her as they wandered off. Lily found herself sitting back in her compartment a moment later, staring blankly at the opposite seat, a squirmy feeling in her stomach, as though she had eaten a plate full of live worms. A single thought kept swirling through her head as she envisioned the homework, the studying, the exams and the stress she was already going to have to endure in her N.E.W.T year without his stupid jokes and the never ending drivel about Quidditch:
Why Potter?
.:*~* Clio *~*:.
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TITLE: The Knights of Walpurgis
AUTHOR: Clio
RATED: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: No Potter me-owny, but big late fee me-havey. Don't sue!
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IMPORTANT A/N: I am rewriting this fic! If you have not yet reread chapter one then do so before you read chapter two!
I hope my readers enjoy the new fic, but if you'd still like to read what I had posted of the old Knights you can find it on Fanfiction.net; search the author name “Goddess.Clio” (without quotation marks) or the story title “The Knights of Walpurgis” (again without quotation marks). Thanks for all the reviews I had received and I hope that my reviewers will let me know how the rewrite is going! =^)
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Knights of Walpurgis
Previously…
“James… Oh,” Lily said, forcing a strained smile onto her face. “That's…” Pretty awful.
He said, bluntly, “You don't have to pretend to be happy about it.”
The smile wilted, but she kept staring at him. James Potter as Head Boy? Why? What was Dumbledore thinking? What in the world made James Potter qualified to be Head Boy when he had spent most of the previous six years in detentions?
“We need to go,” James pointed out to his friends. “The meeting and all…”
Lily watched the four boys shuffle into the next carriage and vaguely heard Eve and Adriana call good-byes to her as they wandered off. Lily found herself sitting back in her compartment a moment later, staring blankly at the opposite seat, a squirmy feeling in her stomach, as though she had eaten a plate full of live worms. A single thought kept swirling through her head as she envisioned the homework, the studying, the exams and the stress she was already going to have to endure in her N.E.W.T year without his stupid jokes and the never ending drivel about Quidditch:
Why Potter?
PART I
Chapter 2
.:*~* The Unexpected Head *~*:.
Lily Evans pushed the carriage door aside and moved down the narrow corridor of the Hogwarts Express. The sounds floating from inside the compartments she passed were happy and full of life, so much different that the sounds Lily had become accustomed to hearing. The news broadcasted over the Wizard's Wireless Network lately was nothing but a laundry list of attacks, protests and, the week before, riots in Birmingham. Even the prefect's meeting that morning, however happy it may have seemed, had only reinforced the nature of the world in which they had come to live.
Every year the Headmaster invited eight fifth years to become prefects for their houses, joining those sixth and seventh years who had also received that honor. In the years since Lily had been named Prefect, though, the group the school had come to rely on had been fragmented by events outside the school. With the rise of the Death Eaters and their rumored leader, a man many referred to as the Dark Lord, or simply You Know Who, the number of returning prefects seemed to dwindle. Leading the meeting that morning had been a shock; they had lost five of the sixteen returning prefects.
With her patrol of the train coming to an end, she wanted nothing more than to just sit back with her friends and await their arrival at Hogsmeade station. As she walked toward her compartment Clay Bosworth appeared. His heavy brow was emphasizing the scowl on his face.
“So how did he get it?” he asked Lily plainly, crossing his hulking arms over his chest.
Lily frowned. “How did..?”
“Potter,” Clay spat. “Bloody wanking Potter. How did he get Head Boy?
“I don't know,” Lily replied, honestly. “Until this morning I thought you were Head Boy.”
“I don't like it,” Clay said, resolutely. “Did you see how he just sat there during the meeting? Or how about when he came around to all of us,” Lily knew he meant the other seventh year boys, “and shook our hands like nothing was amiss, like he'd just popped in to say hello like we were old mates. Didn't say anything about Head Boy, or how bad he felt about getting it when I've been working for it for two years.” Clay growled his frustration. Lily had a suspicion that James didn't feel bad about getting Head Boy at all.
Truth be told, Lily had expected James Potter, who never failed to flaunt his Quidditch captaincy, to take every opportunity to rub his Head Boy appointment in the faces of all the other seventh year boys. They, after all, were the only four up for the position until Dumbledore strayed off the beaten path and appointed a boy who was neither a prefect nor someone who felt that rules were anything more than half-hearted suggestions. His lack of participation in the dispensing of duties was somewhat predictable, having never been a prefect, but she, like Clay, was somewhat suspicious of his new low-key approach.
Clay added, “Do you think it's because he's a pureblood?”
Lily faltered in her response. “No. Well… I don't know.”
“I think so,” Clay said.
Lily reflected on Clay's statement. “That doesn't sound like something Dumbledore would do, appoint someone because of their blood status.”
Clay huffed irritably, mumbled something Lily didn't hear, then stormed past her in the direction she had just come from causing a very pretty girl who had just been entering to jump aside in shock. Celeste Doucette glared at Clay's retreating form before continuing through the corridor. Lily knew Celeste, of course. Both girls were in Gryffindor and Celeste and Eve were good friends. They had bonded over a mutual fascination with divination in their third year that Lily still didn't entirely understand. She had always liked Celeste whenever they had opportunities to talk during meals or in study groups; however Celeste also maintained a close friendship with James causing Lily to give her, and consequently him, a wide berth. Unexpectedly, Celeste stopped when she reached Lily.
“Hi,” she said with a warm smile.
“Hi, Celeste,” Lily returned the smile. “Good summer?”
Celeste made a non-committal gesture, brushing a lock of long blonde hair out of her large brown eyes. “As good as can be expected given…”
“Oh, I know,” Lily agreed.
“It's like the country's been turned into a prison.”
“I'd actually prefer prison over this situation,” Lily replied.
“Yeah,” Celeste's brow furrowed in concentration. “I heard somewhere that you were nearly arrested in Diagon Alley?”
“Oh, yeah,” Lily laughed mirthlessly. “Long story.”
Celeste nodded in agreement. “Now we're rooming together maybe I'll hear the whole thing someti-AAHH!!” Celeste cried out. James had snuck up behind her and grabbed her about her middle causing her to start. He laughed and moved around her, leaning against the thin compartment wall. Celeste whacked him in the gut. “You jerk. What'd you do that for?”
“These are dangerous times, Celeste,” James replied, wearing a casual smile. “You've got to keep your defenses up.” He asked, “What were you arrested for?”
“Lily was arrested, not me.”
“I was not arrested, I was almost arrested.”
James's eyebrows knotted in disbelief. “What could you possibly have done to get yourself arrested?”
Celeste muttered to Lily, “I see he still thinks the sun shines out of your every orifice.”
“Not every orifice,” James replied, somewhat defensively. Then he added, “Just the ones I've been lucky enough to see.”
“You're disgusting,” Celeste stated.
James said, matter-of-factly, “I'm a guy.”
Lily added in reluctant agreement, “He does have a point. Boys have dirty minds.”
He leaned toward her and grinned. “You have no idea, Miss Evans.”
Lily smiled back, serenely. “And I'm happy in my ignorance, Mr. Potter. So if you'd please refrain from enlightening us any further I'd be very grateful.”
James stood, his arms crossed like a petulant child. “I can see I'm not loved here so I'll be going somewhere where my perversions will be better appreciated.” He made a low, sweeping bow and said in his most pompous voice, “Good day, ladies.”
“Wait, don't go!” Celeste called. He stopped a few paces away and turned back sticking out his lower lip in a pout Lily admitted was quite adorable. “I wanted to talk to you.”
“About what?” he asked.
Though Lily couldn't see Celeste's face she knew that it had formed one of those “you know what” kinds of expressions. James gave an impatient sigh and indicated that he'd be waiting in an empty compartment.
Celeste turned back to Lily and sighed exasperatedly. “He's such a child at times.”
Lily replied, amused, “Do you mean to imply that there are times when he acts like an adult?”
Celeste grinned. “It's been known to happen on occasion.”
“I'd never have thought it of him.”
Celeste shrugged. “You just don't know him that well. I'll see you tonight.” She turned and entered James's compartment.
Lily thought about what Celeste had just said. Admittedly she didn't know James as well as she could have but how much more could there possibly be to him? In a nut shell, James Potter was an arrogant, self-righteous jerk who enjoyed making fools of younger students and exuded just enough charm with the professors not to be expelled for some of the things he and Sirius got up to. It was common knowledge that he came from a very wealthy family and that he had spent most of his childhood being spoiled rotten and doted upon by his parents. He had never had to hold a job, he had never shouldered any real responsibility before now, and she was pretty sure that if someone or something didn't straighten him out quickly he would soon be beyond hope. Even with the few moments of maturity James Potter had managed to express over the last six years Lily still had a hard time picturing him as a responsible young man.
The only conclusion Lily could draw, therefore, was that Celeste's opinion of him was simply warped. Everyone knew that Celeste and James had dated at the beginning of their sixth year and had gotten on famously. After only a few months, however, things seemed to fizzle between them. Celeste had moved on to her boyfriend Ruben and James to a girl named Jessica from Ravenclaw. Lily supposed that Celeste's views on her former boyfriend stemmed from lingering feelings for him.
Yes. That must be it.
Lily turned and entered her compartment, climbing onto the seat and extracting her black Hogwarts robes from the trunk in the luggage rack. She gave her wand a wave and it issued a cloud of steam which she used to release the wrinkles in her robes. Over the rhythmic rumble of the train against the tracks she could hear voices. She flicked her wand and listened more closely. It was Celeste and James in the next compartment. She hesitated, reluctantly letting curiosity overcome her. She laid her robes over the seat and put her ear to the thin wall.
James's voice was the first she heard, muffled through the wall. “What in the world made him join the Ministry?”
Celeste answered, “You know Ruben. His sense of honor and duty took him over. I think he was possessed when he signed up.” Her voice sounded less clear than James's causing Lily to imagine that James was sitting next to the wall Lily had her ear pressed to and Celeste sat opposite him.
“Nah,” James replied. “Not possessed. But this definitely proves that his decision-making privileges should be revoked at once.” There was a pause before James added in disbelief, “The Ministry.”
“Oh, it doesn't matter. It's done. He can't get out now.”
Many young men had joined the Ministry recently, hoping to do some good. Lily knew, though, that a lot of them ended up like the clerk at King's Cross: bitter and resentful.
Celeste's voice recalled her attention and she pressed her ear back to the wall.
“Have you heard from Jessica at all?”
James voice seemed detached. “I don't… yeah, I guess. A few times.”
There was a pause.
Celeste asked, “How is she?”
“She's doing better, much better. She doesn't really tell me. Probably doesn't want me to worry. But, you know, how can I not?”
“And how's everything with you?” Celeste asked. Lily thought she sounded hesitant but it was difficult to discern the nuances of her voice over the hum of the train. “Are you doing well?”
“Well enough, I guess,” James replied. There was a thud against the wall as though he had knocked his head against it. “I don't know how well I'm supposed to be doing so all I know is that I'm doing alright given what I've got to work with.” He gave a humorless laugh. “This sounds terrible,” he added, “but I'm really glad to be back. I've been so caught up in this whole affair all summer that it feels good to be away.”
Lily stepped back from the wall. She had heard that he and his girlfriend Jessica had split up at the end of sixth year. Rumors had been flying around that Jessica's family was headed for Australia in July. They had had enough of You Know Who and they wanted to get away before something happened to their family. Lily supposed she and James were trying to keep things going long distance.
A knock came at the compartment door. Lily climbed off the seat as it rattled open. Rosalie Ray, the sixth year Hufflepuff prefect, poked her head in and reported that the train would arrive at Hogsmeade Station in twenty minutes. Lily pulled on her now wrinkle-free robes and followed Rosalie from the compartment and along the train. As she and Rosalie passed a compartment at the front of the train she recognized one of the faces inside and stopped.
The compartment held three young girls talking exuberantly. Two of the girls were brunettes and one girl had champagne-blonde hair and wide eager eyes. Shannon Gilford grinned at Lily as she opened the door.
“Everything alright in here?” Lily asked.
“It's great,” Shannon replied, dumping her cat out of her lap as she stood.
“We're almost to Hogwarts,” Lily said, and all three first-year girls pressed their noses to the black window in excitement. “Go ahead and put your robes on. And your hats and gloves. It'll be a bit nippy for you.”
The shorter of the two brunette girls turned to Lily. “When are we sorted? Right away?”
“You'll be sorted before the Feast begins.”
Shannon asked, “Which of the houses is the best?”
Lily laughed. “Whichever house you're sorted into will be the best if you're sorted into the right one,” she replied diplomatically.
Shannon pursed her lips, unhappy with Lily's answer. “Which house are you in?”
Again, Lily laughed. “I'm in Gryffindor.”
“That's the house I want to be in then.” Shannon turned to the other two girls. “Gryffindor's got to be the best. The best house for the best witches!”
The girls shrieked with delight.
“I'm very flattered,” Lily said, “but you'll be sorted into the house that best suits you. You'll do well in whichever one you're sorted into.” The three girls exchanged smiles. Lily added, “Now put on your robes. We should be arriving in just a few minutes.”
The crisp evening air was refreshing after the hot, stuffy atmosphere of the Hogwarts Express. Lily stepped onto the platform, relishing the cold breeze that carried the heavy scent of pine resin. She moved with the crowd toward the earthen road and the horseless carriages. She saw Eve and Mark hand in hand climbing into a carriage. Ahead of her were James, Sirius and Remus. Sirius was walking backwards, craning his neck trying to see over the heads of students far behind him. Lily watched James reach out his hand, seeming to stroke something in front of the carriage as Sirius shrugged and mounted their coach.
“Wait! WAIT!” a frantic voice called as the carriage lurched forward, then trundled away into the thick forest.
Peter Pettigrew plodded past Lily calling after the ghostly shape among the trees but the carriage lumbered on. He stopped a few yards down the road out of breath. Lily approached him, his panting heaves so violent she thought he might faint from lack of oxygen.
“Look at the fat lump,” a sneering voice came. Lily turned. Zachary Angston sauntered toward them followed by Dennis Mulciber and Severus Snape. Angston was a tall, thin boy with a square jaw that made him look permanently angry, and his nose had been broken at least once. Lily always got the impression that Angston wanted to break someone else's nose.
A shorter and squatter boy agreed. Dennis Mulciber stepped forward. “Shall we give little Porky Pettigrew some exercise?” Mulciber drew his wand. “Imperi—”
Mulciber was knocked back several paces. Snape instinctively caught Mulciber and pushed him upright again. Lily strode forward, her own wand raised against the three boys.
“How dare you!” she shouted, incensed. “How dare you cast that curse on him!”
“Relax, Peaches,” Angston cooed, wickedly. Angston and Mulciber circled her like vultures. “It ain't illegal yet, so what's the harm?”
“You're right,” Lily replied ironically. “You should get as much use of the Imperius Curse as you can.” She glowered up into his face. “Because you better believe the second it becomes illegal and I find you using it on students I'll have the M.L.E. here so fast—”
“Ooo,” Mulciber chuckled. “Empty threats from the Mudblood.”
Lily saw Snape make a jerking movement as though to reach for his wand but he contented himself to looking mean and surly and remaining out of the confrontation.
“It's a shame you're a Mudblood,” Angston agreed. She felt his hand brush her long hair off her neck. She pushed his hand away. “Or I'd have you for myself.”
“You might want to step away, Peter,” Lily said, cooly. “I think I'm going to be sick.”
Peter, for all his intimidation at the Slytherins around her, pushed Angston from her forcefully. “Back off, you filth!” he cried. Lily noticed that his wand shook slightly as he stood to defend her.
Snape turned at the sound of footfall coming toward the group. Celeste Doucette and Clay Bosworth were jogging down the lane.
“What's going on?” Clay asked, slowing.
“Nothing that couldn't be handled without you,” Severus replied, icily. “Say, how does it feel to be overlooked for Head Boy in favor of that no-talent golden boy Potter?”
Clay's nostrils flared, his knuckles blanching as he gripped his wand tighter. “I don't know,” Clay returned. “How does it feel to be the only mutt in a purebred house?”
Even Lily thought that was a low blow. She wasn't sure how many of Severus's friends knew he was a half blood but she did know his lineage was of great importance to him. Apparently Mulciber and Angston were in on Snapes little secret for their faces never faltered in their loathing expressions.
Celeste walked straight toward Lily and took her arm. She motioned for Peter to follow and she led them to a black coach that Lily hadn't realized had arrived.
“Get in,” she said, forcefully. She turned to Clay, then seemed to think better of inviting him along and got in herself. Her face was lit by the flickering lantern above her head, her eyes boring into Lily and Peter. “What was going on?”
“They were threatening us,” Peter replied. “Angston tried to put the Imperius Curse on me.”
“What?” Celeste cried in shock. “Even with all the lobbying Crouch is doing to induct it as the third Unforgivable they're still using it?” Celeste's voice was dripping with disgust.
Yeah,” Peter said. “In broad daylight, too! I mean, broad nighttime since it's dark out, but they used it!”
“We need to tell James about this,” Celeste said, firmly.
“No.”
Celeste and Peter both looked at Lily.
“Do not tell him about what happened,” Lily said, seriously.
“Why not?” Celeste asked.
“It's James!” Lily replied, exasperatedly. “What do you think his first act as Head Boy will be if the first thing thrown in his lap is that a Slytherin did something wrong?”
“It doesn't matter who did it,” Celeste replied. “It's the fact that the Imperius curse was the one being used that will get him to act.”
“Yes,” Lily agreed. “The Imperius curse being used by a Slytherin against one of his best friends. Do you think James would be thinking rationally about how to handle the boy who did it?”
Peter said, meekly, “Maybe he would.”
Celest, though, seemed to realize Lily was right.
Lily said, “Please don't tell him. Either of you.”
Peter looked to Celeste who appeared to be thinking this over very carefully. The remainder of the journey passed in a heavy silence.
The trees began to thin and Hogwarts castle emerged from the darkness as a huge shadow against the navy blue sky, its windows twinkling like stars. The black coach rocked to a halt, swaying in the light, crisp breeze as Lily, Peter and Celeste climbed out. Many students were huddled on the stairs leading into the entrance hall waiting for friends but Lily didn't feel much like joining the festivities just yet.
Instead of heading inside she trudged down the sloping lawn toward the black lake. She imagined that if she looked hard enough she could see the first years boarding the little boats that would carry them toward their new home. Then she remembered that you couldn't see the castle from the dock near Hogsmeade station. To her right she heard the swishing of a cloak over the wet grass. She looked up and say Remus Lupin approaching her looking as haggard as she felt.
“Everything alright?” he asked.
Lily smiled but suspected it looked more like a grimace. “Not in the slightest.”
Remus watched her profile as she stared forlornly out over the lake. “I'm here if you need to talk. You know that, right?”
Lily nodded.
He motioned back toward the castle. “Are you coming up?”
Lily examined the laughing students descending from their coaches and disappearing into the warm Great Hall. Among the crowd still outside she saw Sirius, James and Celeste. She shook her head. “Not yet.”
Remus turned and walked away. Shortly after his feet died away Lily heard another pair approaching. This time it was Celeste.
She didn't look happy. Her mouth was drawn in a tight line and her arms were crossed over her chest as she approached. She stopped several yards away so that Lily had to turn to look at her.
Celeste said, resolutely, “I'm not going to lie to him.”
Lily sighed and turned away.
“But,” Celeste added, with reluctance, “I won't say anything unless he asks me directly.”
Lily turned back to her. Celeste looked entirely unhappy with this decision. Over Celeste's shoulder she could see that everyone had gone inside and the last black coach was trundling around the corner of the castle, empty.
“Thank you.”
Celeste turned and hurried inside. Lily returned to her examination of the lake, pondering how she was expected to make it through this year.
“Get a grip,” she muttered to herself.
It wasn't the end of the world, she thought. She could always ask Dumbledore to reconsider his Head Boy appointment.
But what if he didn't?
Lily toed a muddy patch of grass. What would it be like having to shoulder the responsibility of Head Boy and Head Girl? And study for her N.E.W.T.s?
Hushed voices drifted toward Lily on the breeze. The first years had arrived and were disembarking their boats. Lily watched from afar as Hagrid herded them up toward the castle longing for her own first year again, a time when the only things on her mind were friends and magic. Her seventh, she feared, was destined to be different than all the rest. And she'd have to get through it on her own.
With a last breath of night air, Lily made her way back up to Gryffindor tower.
.:*~* Clio *~*:.
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TITLE: The Knights of Walpurgis
AUTHOR: Clio
RATED: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: No Potter me-owny, but big late fee me-havey. Don’t sue!
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IMPORTANT A/N: I am rewriting this fic! If you have not yet reread chapters one and two then do so before you read chapter three!
I hope my readers enjoy the new fic, but if you’d still like to read what I had posted of the old Knights you can find it on Fanfiction.net; search the author name “Goddess.Clio” (without quotation marks) or the story title “The Knights of Walpurgis” (again without quotation marks). Thanks for all the reviews I had received and I hope that my reviewers will let me know how the rewrite is going! =^)
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
Knights of Walpurgis
Previously…
Celeste said, resolutely, “I’m not going to lie to him.”
Lily sighed and turned away.
“But,” Celeste added, with reluctance, “I won’t say anything unless he asks me directly.”
Lily turned back to her. Celeste looked entirely unhappy with this decision. Over Celeste’s shoulder she could see that everyone had gone inside and the last black coach was trundling around the corner of the castle, empty.
“Thank you.”
Celeste turned and hurried inside. Lily returned to her examination of the lake, pondering how she was expected to make it through this year.
“Get a grip,” she muttered to herself.
It wasn’t the end of the world, she thought. She could always ask Dumbledore to reconsider his Head Boy appointment.
But what if he didn’t?
Lily toed a muddy patch of grass. What would it be like having to shoulder the responsibility of Head Boy and Head Girl? And study for her N.E.W.T.s?
Hushed voices drifted toward Lily on the breeze. The first years had arrived and were disembarking their boats. Lily watched from afar as Hagrid herded them up toward the castle longing for her own first year again, a time when the only things on her mind were friends and magic. Her seventh, she feared, was destined to be different than all the rest. And she’d have to get through it on her own.
With a last breath of night air, Lily made her way back up to Gryffindor tower.
PART I
Chapter 3
.:*~* A Memorable Monday *~*:.
“But she looks just the same to me,” Mark said, leaning around Mary McDonald to get a look at Nancy Shepherd sitting across the corridor.
“That’s because the crimper she went to mucked it up and she grew it back over night,” Adriana explained. “Oh,” she went on, speaking to Eve, “and Salendra said she’d heard about something happening to James Potter over the holiday.”
“Really?” Eve asked, uninterested, flipping through a Witch Weekly she had found in the common room that morning.
Adriana nodded. “Salendra said she heard from Lexi-Ann that Daphne told her about James being attacked by a band of those thugs, the Dog Cheaters, or whatever.”
“Death Eaters,” Mary corrected, irritably.
Adriana shot her a look, seemingly annoyed that she had been corrected. “Whatever,” she said. She turned and stalked off toward Salendra Prasad and a group of Hufflepuffs.
Monday morning of the second week of term had dawned bright and blue, promising a beautiful, clear day. Lily was surprised at how quickly the first week had gone by. Perhaps it was because she hadn’t yet gotten an opportunity to stop and think about the events of the week with all of her classes. Even still, she was surprised to find that it was already the second week.
So far lessons were exactly what she had expected. Teachers were spouting off the obligatory speeches on the importance of N.E.W.T.s to one’s future endeavors, setting practice exams and assigning term-long projects. She had already been allotted an 8-roll-long essay for History of Magic on a topic of her own choosing, the mastery of three new charms from their set textbook by the following Wednesday, and to define the properties of an herb commonly found on the Hogwarts grounds.
The week hadn’t been completely predictable, though. Lily’s very first lesson on Monday had been Defense Against the Dark Arts, and it was proving to be a very confusing class indeed. Not because of the subjects covered or the professor’s teaching methods, but because of the lack of a professor at all. The thirty seventh-year students had arrived on time for their lesson but found that their professor had not. In fact, he hadn’t shown for the next lesson, either, or even the one Friday morning.
At first, Lily supposed Faraday, whose name she had learned from Rhea King, must have run into some family crisis and had to rush away. With his absence a second time students began to wonder about his health. Perhaps he was ill. Remus Lupin, however, discounted this theory as he had visited the hospital wing on Thursday and had been Madam Pomfrey’s only patient.
With no suitable explanation at hand, the likelihood of another lesson that morning sans professor seemed inevitable.
The bell had rung nearly twenty minutes ago and the seventh-years were strewn about the corridor outside the Defense classroom on the first floor, their bags in a pile, awaiting the improbable arrival of their professor. Caleb Costel, a Hufflepuff boy with shaggy blonde hair and larger than usual ears, had wandered over to the group massed around one of the high, pointed windows, the Daily Prophet tucked under his arm.
Mary, sitting in the deep stone sill of the window, said, dubiously, “Is that it, then?”
Caleb nodded and waved the Prophet at the group. “Anyone not read it yet?”
Both Mark and Eve spoke up. Caleb opened the folded paper to reveal the front page’s headline,
Ministry Approves Ban on Apparition
He continued on to read the article aloud.
In response to last month’s startling attacks
on the Hillsburies, a goblin family residing in
Newcastle, Memphis Godwin, Minister of
Magic, has passed unprecedented new
legislation banning civilian apparition. The
magical form of transport, purported to be
the method favored by the group of ruffians
calling themselves Death Eaters, has been
temporarily outlawed to all but Ministry
officials, Aurors, members of Magic Law
Enforcement Squads and Mediwizards.
Reactions to this new and, we are assured,
temporary law have been mixed but, after
hearing account after account of attacks,
most are coming round to side with the
Ministry. “It’s about time the Ministry is
taking action against these unruly hooligans,”
says Wilhelmina Hartley of number 3 Ferens
Park, Durham. “I, for one, am over the moon
about it and would be well shot of apparition
should it never be legalized again.”
Several students nearby turned to Caleb as he continued his recitation. Remus, Celeste and Sirius moved toward them to listen better.
Not all are pleased with the Ministry’s latest
legislative action. Former Minister for Magic,
John Henry Weston, has vehemently spoken
out against the current Minister calling him the
“most imperialist Minister for Magic Britain
has yet seen.” (For further reporting on the
Weston/Godwin confrontation see page 3)
The apparition ban comes in the wake of the
Ministry’s new regime designed to limit
Death Eater mobility, following quickly on the
heels of the Portkey restrictions and the
further regulations enforced on the Floo
Network.
A representative of the Department of Magical
Transportation, which monitors the licensing
and practice of apparition, announced that it
will be issuing fines of five thousand Galleons
to any witch or wizard found apparating
illegally within the U.K..
Eve scoffed. “Like that would stop You Know Who or his little minions from apparating.”
Lily agreed. “They have no qualms about torturing or killing innocent people,” she added, “but give them a fine…”
“Oh, how they’ll quiver,” Mary laughed.
“Seriously, though,” Eve said, “it’s not going to stop them.”
“The Death Eaters don’t care what kinds of fines they’d rack up,” Mark pointed out, “because they’d stiff the Ministry anyway. You Know Who could apparate in front of Godwin and all Godwin would do is crap his pants. The rich people could afford to be fined a hundred times but would probably never be called on to foot the bill because they know the right people,” Mark rolled his eyes. “So the only thing this law will do,” he finished, “is inconvenience all the working people who now no longer have a quick way to work.”
“How do they keep track of this?” Mary asked. “You have to be 17 to get your license so the trace would have been lifted.”
“They don’t say,” Remus said.
Lily said, perplexed, “But I read every bloody line of that contract when I got my license. They didn’t say anything about monitoring me.”
“They wouldn’t,” Sirius replied, bitterly. “But they monitor everything. If you put an engorgement charm on your willy, they know about it.”
“And you know this from personal experience, do you?” Celeste quipped, moving to the window sill and sitting next to Lily.
“Me? No, not at all,” Sirius smiled, serenely. “I’m very well endowed.”
“Very self-assured,” Lily corrected.
Caleb dismissed Sirius’s pronouncement. “You know what girls are always saying...”
Sirius shrugged. “Ouch?”
There was a chorus of vulgar laughter.
“And you’re sure this isn’t some kind of joke?” Mary asked, looking down at the newspaper.
“Very,” Remus said. “They’re broadcasting bulletins over the WWN every half hour. We’ve heard three this morning on Sirius’s Wireless Receiver already.”
“It figures,” Sirius said, “that the Ministry would pull a stunt like this a year after I get my license.”
“It’s not a personal attack on you,” Remus said, parentally. “I don’t think many people know how interfering the Ministry is. They don’t exactly broadcast the fact that they monitor apparition.”
Lily thought back to her own apparition test in Hogsmeade earlier that year. She certainly didn’t remember reading anything that allowed the Ministry to track her use of apparition. In fact, she didn’t remember much from that day, as Peter had accidentally apparated into Zonko’s Joke shop and proceeded to accidentally set off their whole stock of Filibuster’s Fabulous No-Heat, Wet-Start Fireworks, driving every bit of the apparition license contract from her mind.
Celeste picked lint off her robes absently.
“Where’s James?” Mark asked.
“Chatting up his latest love interest.” At Mary and Eve’s inquisitive look Celeste added, “Daphne Jones,” and a gagging noise. “I wish he’d improve on his taste in girls.”
“He had,” Remus replied, grinning at Lily. “But she keeps turning him down.”
“Reckon it’ll be a good year?” Caleb asked Mark.
Quidditch, Lily thought. All boys talk about is Quidditch.
Mark shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ve got to replace a Beater and a Chaser now that Melanie’s gone.”
“What kind of side do you think Gryffindor will be putting up?” Caleb asked Sirius.
“Now, now, Mr. Costel,” Sirius chided, shaking his finger at the wiry boy and plopping his butt on the deep stone window sill next to Celeste. “Just because I’m friends with the Captain…”
“Replacing a Beater and a Chaser isn’t exactly easy, is it?” Lily asked, more for conversation than actual curiosity.
“No, it’s not,” Mark said. “Seeker and Keeper are one thing, they operate fairly independently, but the other two positions… The chemistry’s got to be just right between the players.”
“Mark’ll have to put in extra time if he wants to keep his position,” Caleb jabbed good-naturedly.
“Nonsense,” Eve said. She smoothed Marks hair fussily. “James will keep him on.”
Mark batted her hand away and Eve grinned playfully.
“Does he know when he’ll hold trials?” Celeste asked.
“Are you thinking of coming down?” Mark asked. Celeste shrugged.
Lily said, “Are you a good flyer?”
Sirius said, “She is rather talented at riding things with long, hard poles…” Celeste elbowed Sirius in the gut. He raised his hands and added, “So I’ve heard. Just an innocent rumor I picked up somewhere.” He gave a cough that sounded suspiciously like “Adriana.”
Lily hid her laughter behind her hand, exchanging looks with Eve. Lily knew Salendra, who was standing near by and no doubt listening in, was probably salivating over this new little tidbit and absently wondered how long it would be before the rumors that Celeste and Sirius were engaged in a passionate love affair started circulating.
“You know,” Sirius continued, stuffing his hands in his pockets and scootching a little closer to Celeste, “if you fancied a good ride, I could loan you my pole tonight, say, nine o’clock?”
“I think you mean your toothpick,” Celeste retorted.
Mark asked through his own laughter, “What position?”
Lily couldn’t help but suggest, “The missionary position.”
“Don’t you start too, Evans,” Celeste warned, narrowing missing Lily’s head with her potions book. Celeste added to Mark, “I’m not actually going to try out.”
“What are you coming for then?”
Eve, whose own shoulders were bouncing with suppressed laughter, said, “She likes to watch the blokes strut around with their shirts off.”
“Oh,” Mark said with comprehension. He added, more to himself, “I’d better do some sit-ups or something then.”
They fell into an easy silence. Lily separated a lock of her long, dark red hair and twirled it absently.
After several minutes Mark checked his watch. “Where is this retched bloke?”
“Maybe Lily could…” Eve started.
She looked up. “Maybe I could what?”
Eve shook her head. “You’re Head Girl. You could do something.”
“Like what?” Lily asked. “I can’t force a professor to show up for his own lessons.”
The group fell into another silence. After a few more minutes James and Peter sauntered over.
He said to Sirius, “This chap’s a no-show again.”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Daphne, Peter and I were going to take off. You coming?”
Sirius nodded and moved away to find his bag. As James turned to walk away Lily caught his arm.
“You’re leaving?”
He thought a moment. “Looks like it. Want to come? We could ditch Daphne no problem. I know this pretty, secluded little spot on the grounds—”
“You can’t leave.”
“Why not?”
Lily replied, testily, “Because you’re Head Boy.”
James cocked an eyebrow and continued on his way toward the pile of book bags. Lily followed, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. He asked, “What does me being Head Boy have anything to do with it?” He pulled his bag from the bottom of the pile and turned to her, slinging it over his shoulder.
“You’re meant to be an example for other students,” Lily said.
“Then,” James countered, “they should follow my example and leave as well.”
He turned, his bag swinging wildly, and made his way toward Sirius, Peter, Remus and several girls who seemed to be leaving as well, among them were Daphne Jones and Lexi-Ann LaRayne.
“James, please, you need to stay!”
“Why?” James rounded on her, “Why should I stay when Faraday doesn’t think these lessons important enough to show up to? I’m simply repaying the favor.”
“There’s only fifteen minutes left in the lesson,” Lily replied. “What could you possibly do in fifteen minutes that would make it worth leaving?”
“Lots of things,” he said, coldly. “Top on my list of priorities is to go make out with Daphne.”
Lily scoffed, disgustedly. “You’re a pig.”
They glared at each other for a moment. James took a few steps toward her, leaning down until they were almost nose to nose. “Oink, oink.”
He turned away from her and several things happened at once.
There was a tremendous bang, a mass movement by the students, and the exact spot James Potter had been standing on erupted in a cloud of putrid, grey smoke intermingled with blue sparks. The Lily found herself stumbling backwards into someone’s arms. Her momentum was too great, though, and they both fell backwards. She looked up to see Garrett Masterson.
She blinked, clearing her eyes, and looked around at the other students. Many of them had dashed away down the corridor several yards. Several others seemed to have been knocked off their feet as Lily had been and were now making apologies for bloody noses and smashed toes. A few more still were uncurling themselves from fetal positions, not able to spring to their feet quickly enough to run away. The students who had managed to stay on their feet were now moving toward James, obscuring Lily’s view of him.
Lily felt hands on her back, pushing her into a sitting position. “You alright?” Garrett asked.
“Yeah, sorry,” Lily said, standing and offering Garrett a hand up.
“No problem,” he replied. “It’s not every day I have a pretty girl on top of me.”
She gave Garrett a half-amused, half-exasperated smile, and pushed through the crowd that had congregated in the corridor. James was picking himself up off the floor, his wand clutched in his right hand and his eyes wide behind skewed glasses. Sirius, too, had his wand raised as he glared suspiciously around at the circle of on-lookers, panting from the surge of adrenaline. Daphne knelt next to James, trying to help him up, but her hands were shaking badly.
Laughter rang through the air and the students fell silent. A stocky man with a broad face threw off an invisibility coak, clapping his hands and grinning. The students parted as he made his way toward the center of the circle, expressions of suspicion and shock donning everyone’s faces.
“Fantastic!” he cried, laughing. “Smashin’ performance, Mister…? Mister…?” But James merely climbed to his feet, straightening his glasses and glaring back at him.
The man waved his hand carelessly, apparently not fussed that his new student was snubbing his question. “Never mind. Just thought I’d obey the rule of polite society and ask yer name first.”
Lily doubted whether this man had ever been a part of polite society. He was a large, bulky man with a closely shaved head of what Lily thought was blond hair and faded black robes that didn’t do anything to mask his large arms and robust chest. His several gold teeth glimmered in the morning sunlight as he grinned and he spoke with a cockney accent.
He gestured toward the classroom door. In all the commotion, Lily hadn’t realized it had swung open, “If yeh would, Mr. Potter.”
Slowly, the students collected their belongings and filed into the classroom. Lily followed Mary McDonald into the cool, watching James push a distraught Daphne off him, irritably. Once everyone had found a seat the stocky man closed the door. He made his way through the desks, waving his wand at the shutters over the windows which swung open. Reaching the front desk, he turned and clapped his hands together, a pleased look on his face.
“Well,” he continued. “I had hoped to demonstrate the dangers facin' an unsuspectin' victim of a Spaventoso Attack, but I’m afraid I chose to pick on a subject wiv, er, rather blindin' reflexes.” The man continued to smile broadly at James, while James continued to glare back. “But never mind dat. Introductions, I suppose. I'm Rigel Faraday, yer new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.”
The class grumbled collectively.
“Now, can Uncle Tom Cobley and all tell me what a Spaventoso Attack is? What about you?”
A short, dumpy girl named Nancy Shepherd sat up, looking nervous to be the first one called on.
She said in a quaivering, “Spaventoso is a surprise attack. It’s meant to be used when your opponent is in an unsuspecting state of mind.”
“An’ what does it do? You there.”
Faraday pointed to the back at a girl with chestnut-brown hair and olive skin who had been craning her neck trying to see James. “It… creates a cloud of blue-grey smoke,” she replied, “that only the caster can see through. It gives the caster an advantage, allowing them time to cast a more dangerous or deadly spell while disorienting the victim.”
“Right tasty. That’s a bee hive to you, and for the other young lady and let’s say a pig pen for Mr. Potter for his excellent use of a shielding charm,” Faraday said.
Mary turned to Lily and mouthed, “Pig Pen?”
Lily replied silently, “Ten points.”
“I admit,” Faraday said, “dat Spaventoso is a bit rud’mentary fer an N.E.W.T.-level lesson, but it’s a good spell tah know when you’re buyin’ fer time.”
He smiled around at the class who all returned his smile with confused or suspicious stares. The remaining five minutes of the lesson passed in this awkward silence, and when the bell rang Faraday immediately strode to the door, opened it, and disappeared into the corridor before the students had even stood up.
Everyone watch him leave in the same puzzled silence. When the door banged shut, they all looked around at each other in utter confusion.
Lily and James exchanged looks. “So that’s Faraday.”
.:*~* Clio *~*:.
A/N:
Yay for reviews! They become an addiction, I swear… Yay for validation from total strangers! :-D
Allesandra_Thornbird – You get the honor of first reviewer of the new (and improved??) Knights! Thanks for the compliments about the dialogue, I work very hard at it! And I hope I continue, too! :-J
Sweet_Millie – Thank you for the review, and I hope you liked chapter three as much as you liked chapters one and two!