Chapter 2 an Interesting Return
Suddenly, there was an explosion. Pumpkin pastries, chocolate frogs, licorice wands, and other goodies were strewn across the train. The younger ones, along with some greedy older students, started to stuff the treats into their pockets, before the trolley lady jinxed them, paralyzing their hands. The marauders, lily's friends, and the prefects stared at a duel between Lily and James. They had no idea how it started. The two teenagers were shooting curses and hexes and jinxes everywhere, shouting about things-from Quidditch, to grades, to pranks, to food fights, to behavior.
Lily's new robes were now covered in crawling locusts, while James' hand sprouted sunflowers. As the train started to shake violently, Remus john Lupin finally steeped in and cast the Finite Incantatem, his tall, awkward body unsteadily wobbling.
Summer, one of Chloe's close friends, who had aquamarine eyes and long, light brown, wavy hair, stared at his impressive wandwork. He was so mature. He seemed to have shot up this summer, and his hair dangled pasted his shoulders. Although he wore shabby robes, his confident stance between Lily and James was definitely brave. Lily's hair looked as if it had been shocked by lightning; James' glasses were now shattered; Lily's robes were ripped ; James had boils on his fingers; lily had antlers growing out of her head, and James' whole body was covered in bat bogeys.
"What is going on?" Lupin asked, as he skillfully began to fix up his friends. Summer jumped up and began to help, but her Charm work wasn't the best; she ended up putting ivy on Lily's antlers. Remus laughed, as Summer blushed and slashed the ivy off. Chloe winked at Summer, but Summer pretended not to notice.
"Fighting over my dashing good looks?" Sirius asked, munching on a filched chocolate frog. James gave him a look of disgust, while Lily rolled her eyes.
"Lily questions my ability to be Head Boy!"
"Well, you weren't a prefect!"
"So! It doesn't mean that-"
Sirius dramatically clapped his hand with his wand, accidentally covering the train with fake snow. "Sheesh, we all look like we have dandruff."
"Shut up," James replied, restoring the train back to normal with Remus. Lily had already put the trolley cart in order and fixed a broken glass window.
"Lily, you do know you have maggots in your hair, right?" Chloe pointed at her, shuddering, as Lily shrieked and vanished the bugs now crawling down her neck. Ugh.
"Haha!" James laughed, but got a mouthful of spiders as a reward.
They began their duel once more, but Sirius yelled, "Stop that immediately!"
"You're seriously trying to keep order?" Remus raised his eyebrow as he deflected lily's leg jinx.
"That's right. I'm Sirius." Remus and James face palmed, but Ana snickered. Sirius noticed, as hardly anyone even smiled at his common joke, and ducked his head to hide his please smile. Ana giggled, caught the others staring, and hastily shoved a chocolate frog in her mouth.
"What?" she asked, spluttering chocolate everywhere, causing everyone but Sirius to step back a few inches. Sirius stood there gaping at her, like she was a goddess.
Her crowd of friends murmured several "nothings" and "don't worry about its." Anna looked at them playfully and asked, "Who's up for a wrestling match?" raising her arm, dripping with chocolate, upon into the air.
Everyone looked at each other, and James and Sirius volunteered to take on the master. They stepped forward smugly, both wearing the "are-you-serious-we-are-fighting-a-girl-let's-go-easy-on-her' type of look.
James said smugly, "Fine, Ariana. We will go easy on you. Don't get mad at us if you get hurt."
"Yeah girls are so 'frail," Sirius added, crossing his arms and smiling.
Ana put her dark brown hair up into a high ponytail and said, "Let's make this quick. I want to get to Hogwarts without all of your blood all over me." Ana grinned, loving the shocked looks on their faces. "And the rules are no wands. And besides that, there are no rules. We're doing this old school." She rolled up her sleeve and swung the first punch. It was all a blur, just her balled up fist hitting Sirius straight on the nose, blood trickling through his fingers. He put on his "bring-it" face, and challenged, "Oh, you're dead, Wynne!" and punched her full on the shoulder. She mocked being hurt, and with Sirius' look of astonishment, she kicked him in the forehead.
He croaked, "Where the heck did you learn how to do that?"
She shrugged, and said, "What do you think I do in my spare time besides Quidditch? Read?"
He fell to the floor, and Ana swooped down to help him, afraid she had hurt him too badly.
"Sirius, are you okay?" Ana asked, beads of sweat rolling down her face.
Sirius looked at her and said, "Now I am."
He took her head into a headlock, and began to give her a noogie. They rolled around on the compartment floor, tackling each other. Despite the fact that she beat the heck out of him, he couldn't really hit a girl really hard more than once. Well, unless it was Bellatrix. She was an exception.
After ten minutes of the gang standing their agape, staring at their friends, James had had enough. He wasn't even part of the fight, which he wanted to be, and he was getting a little tired of it.
"All right, break it up, guys! You and I have had enough of this." James separated them both, who were barking with laughter, bruises covered their arms.
Lily went over to help him, amazed that he would actually break up a fight. She had always known him as the type who would stand on the sidelines and shout things like, "punch 'er in the mouth!" and things of that sort. What had happened to the James Potter she knew?" And who was this new, polite, not aggroant man in front of her? She found herself completely frozen in place, staring at him. His hazel eyes were just gorgeous, and filled with determination. After they had broken up from the fight, Ana, Sirius, Chloe, Summer, and Remus were in the deep conversation about the advantages of being a seventh year. James dusted himself off and rubbed his hands together. He looked around and caught Lily staring at him.
"What, thinking of another hex to cast on me?" he asked, a grin spreading across his face.
Lily took her head out of the clouds and coolly replied, "No, I was just making sure that you had the whole situation under control."
His face fell, and he replied, "I'm fine."
He sat himself down on the bench nearest Lily and patted the spot next to him.
"Why don't you sit down? You look like you are tired," he suggested.
Lily stared at him once again. What the bloody heck was that all about? "Sit down?" What the heck is happening? She straightened out her blue shirt and sat down right next to him, her legs crossed.
"Thanks," she said with caution, slowly sitting herself down.
"So...er...are you excited to get to Hogwarts?" James asked awkwardly, ruffing his hair.
"Yeah, I have been waiting for this day all summer. I am just so tired of my sister and her stupid wedding plans. It makes me sick."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. When my sister Jackie got married, it was nothing but frills and cakes and dresses for five months," James said, thinking back, making a repulsed face.
Lily laughed, and James' face lit up. He smiled at her, before her laugh faded away, immediately recognizing the fact that she enjoyed his company. She tore her eyes away from his and a very pink came across her face. James didn't notice so he asked another question.
"Er...have you been to Verona?"
Lily gave him a puzzled look and replied, "No...have you?"
"Yeah, I went this summer with my family. It was really nice there, probably my favorite old city, besides London o' course," James said.
Lily was in a state of trauma. Romeo and Juliet took place in Verona. That's where they'd met. And he had been there before her? And he liked it there? What was going on with the world?
"I bet it was nice."
"Yeah, it was."
An awkward silence answered James, and they both sat there strangely before their friends pounced on the occasion and harass them.
"Are you both looking forward to sleeping in the same dorm this year? You both will definitely be able to do some interesting activities," Sirius said mischievously, causing James to laugh.
"That won't be happening. Get your incredibly inflated head out of the clouds, Black," Lily snapped, crossing her arms and glaring at James, immediately causing him to shut his mouth.
"Aw, he's just having a little fun, Lily. Give him a break,' Ana said, letting her hair down.
Lily whipped around to face her friend, her emerald orbs on fire, "Easy for you to say. You would like to do some interesting things with s-o-m-e-o-n-e here."
Ana looked outraged, and stomped out of the compartment to find the trolley with a slam of the door. Chloe followed, giving Lily a glace saying, sorry. Remus interrupted to conversation this time.
"Lily, that isn't a way to solve anything. Getting mad at someone won't make you or her feel any better," he said calmly.
She replied with an angry huff, and avoided contact with anyone in the room.
5:oo P.M. - Hogsmeade Platform
The last sliver of the sun beat down on Lily and her friends as they stepped off the scarlet steam engine and onto the Hogsmeade platform. Everyone was scurrying around, racing for the next carriage and reuniting with friends that they hadn't met yet. Hagrid was, as usual, indicating where the first years were supposed to go, and Professor Flitwick was helping other children onto the carriages.
Lily flipped her dark red hair over her shoulder and turned to Ana, who was explaining the relationships she'd had with other bays over the summer. Lily had apologized for the previous actions, and Ana quickly accepted it, not wanting to start any kind of fight, Lily had used a healing charm to clear all of Sirius and Ana's bruises so they didn't look like they just walked in to Hogwarts from some type of war. Chloe was behind them, talking with the Ravenclaw prefect she had spoken to earlier. He was already captivated by Chloe, who just wanted to be friends. Ana and Lily snickered when they looked over their shoulders to see the Ravenclaw prefect, whose name was Evan jones, blushing furiously as Chloe rambled on about how excited she was to be back at Hogwarts.
"Don't you think that he looks as if he's about to fly head over heels for her?" Lily whispered into Ana's ear.
"It's obvious, isn't it? But everyone knows that Evan is a heart breaker. We should warn Chloe about it if she fancies him," Ana answered, playing with a strand of her hair.
"Yeah, I guess. C'mon, let's pull them apart before they start snogging. Their flirting is making me nauseous," Lily said, sounding revolted.
Ana smiled and grabbed Chloe's arm from the crowd and yanked it to the nearest carriage. Lots of exclamations of protest shot from Chloe's mouth, but it was no use. Ana was a seeker, yes, but she had the strength of a beater. Lily complained for them to stop, but was pulled into the carriage as well by someone else. Not Ana, the grip was too firm. It seemed strangely familiar...
"Evans!" I haven't seen you in ages!" a voice cracked, as Lily opened her eyes to meet a pair of grey ones. Sirius Black sat before her, lazily in his chair with Ana and Chloe snickering besides him. Lily immediately went into panic mode, not knowing what to do.
"It's nice to see you too, Black. How was your summer?" Lily replied cautiously, thinking she was walking into some sort of trap.
"It was fine. I didn't go back home again; my mum hates me too much. She keeps on giving me lectures on how to live my life, and wants me to be more like Regulus." Sirius gave off a scowl after he spoke his brother's name. "Besides that, and a little love with Scarlett here and there, nothing much was very exciting. Well, that was before Ana came to our house for a weekend." Sirius beamed, thinking that he had pleased Ana.
"Oh, you're still dating that Scarlett girl, are you?" Ana said, with a hint of revulsion in her voice. Her eyes unusually ferocious, which worried Lily a bit.
"Yeah, they've been dating all summer. Where've you been?" Chloe asked innocently, causing Ana to mutter something about Scarlett under her breath.
"Apparently under a rock. Why does no one tell me these things?" Ana said, throwing her arms up into the air and smacking then on the top of the carriage.
Sirius was sitting there, curiously, his eyes fixed on Ana, He seemed to be studying her, or something. For a short moment she stared back, heedless that she was actually gaping at the handsome fellow. Chloe and Lily waved a hand I in front of each of their eyes, shouting, "Hullo?" for three seconds. Suddenly, Ana and Sirius' minds seemed to snap back to reality, and they both blushed a furious color of red. Their eyes left each other's and Black continued with his summertime story.
"As I was saying before," Sirius began, "The summer was quite alright. With a few pranks here and there around Prongsie's house and some snogging with Scarlett, I didn't do much else until Ana came along."
Ana's eyes returned to the ferocity they had held minutes before, which gave Lily the warning signs that Ana either didn't like Scarlett, or the idea of Sirius dating someone.
"All right, I'm glad you had an enjoyable summer. Now, well, what are you here for?" Lily asked.
"To deliver a message from dear ol' Prongs. Here, he wanted me to give this to you," Sirius said, handing Lily an envelope with her full name carefully written on the top in maroon ink. Lily gingerly tore the fragile letter open, and pulled out a piece of parchment inside.
Dear Ms. Evans,
We are pleased inform you that you have been awarded to position of Head Girl. You were previously informed of this, but there is some new information that we have to present to the Head Boy and Girl by the time you get to Hogwarts.
This year, instead of residing in your house dormitory, you will be assigned a new one to share with the Head Boy. The location of this dormitory is unknown to the rest of the student body, and is on the third floor. There will be a large, gold statue of a phoenix in front of it, which will ask you a question before you can enter. This is sincerely a place for studies, not parties and astronomical social gatherings. Of course, you will want to spend time with your friends and such, but we are very against the idea of others sleeping in your dormitory. However, under special circumstances, you are allowed to have others in your room. Firstly, you will have to inform your Head of House immediately. If anyone is permitted inside your quarters without authorization, certain punishments will be put into action, and fifty points will be taken away from your house for failing to do so. Also, maximum number of 10 people is allowed inside your dormitory.
In addition, you will have the luxury to have breakfast and lunch on the balcony of your room. Dinner will never be permitted because of the important announcements that are reported at the specific time. There is a small bell besides each of your bedside tables to which you can simply give it a shake, and a House Elf will be ready to take your order.
Once again, congratulations on being appointed position of Head Girl. Of you have any questions or concerns about your new residence, please feel free to contact us at any time.
Sincerely yours,
Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster
Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress
Lily charily stuck it back into the envelope, and tucked it into her pocket. She agusted her HG badge proudly, and then turned to Sirius, who was talking quietly with Chloe and Ana. After a moment, he looked up and realized Lily wanted to say something to him.
"Thank you, that was really nice of you to deliver it to me," Lily said, smiling at Black.
"Don't thank me; it was Prongsie's idea. He wanted to bring it to you on the train, but he thought you seemed a little edgy, so he sent me to do the job," Sirius replied, yawning and stretching his muscular arms, before briskly ripping her eyes away from them. Chloe was captive by the various raindrops sliding down the windowpane of the carriage, leaving a thin trail of water.
"Oh, well tell him thanks for me, then"
Sirius looked at her, and a mischievous gleam flashed across his eyes. Oh, no. She knew that look.
"So, how's your relationship with him? Have you finally admitted your undying love for him?" Sirius asked, a smug grin spreading across his handsome face.
Lily threw him a warning glance, and hissed, "No. why would I ever love him, of all people?" Her kind green eyes seemed to ignite with fire, enraged that he would think such a thing.
"C'mon, Lily. He's not that bad," Sirius said.
Lily looked at him irately and coolly replied, "He might have grown up over the summer, but that doesn't change a thing."
"I'll bet it does. I mean, he's doing it all for you, Lily. Just give in. You guys have been in love for centuries. We've all known it for years! Am I right girls?" Sirius said, raising his eyebrows as repeatedly, his head moving back and forth from Chloe to Ana.
Chloe nodded and added, "You guys would look pretty bloody cute together, Lils. It's only a matter of time before you realize your true feelings for each other."
"James already had, but Lily refuses to see it," Ana teased, mimicking kissing noises, as Sirius broke into a laugh.
"Oh, sod off..." Lily muttered, crossing her arms over her chest and huffily sitting herself down on the opposite side of the carriage.
Sirius brought his hand up to his ear and asked mockingly, "What, Evans? Did you just say a swear? Is that what I thought you said?"
Lily couldn't keep her anger contained any longer, so she stood up once again and said with a louder tone of voice, "Sod off Sirius. I am serious; stop it."
"Oh, your name is Sirius, too? What an incredibly stroke of luck; it certainly a small world! Your last name is...Stop It? That's rather odd..."
Lily opened her mouth angrily and spit out another retort, but Ana got there first. "Oh, put a sock in it, Black! Why do you have to be such an arrogant, cheeky arse?"
"Because that's what I am! Don't judge me!" Sirius said a fake look of offense on his face.
"Out," Ana demanded, pointing at the door.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"No, I seemed to have missed it."
"OUT!" Chloe screamed, practically pushing Sirius out the door that was now opened.
"All right, all right. Ladies these days... pu-sh-y!" Sirius stage whispered to him, climbing out of the carriage and hitched a ride with another that was passing by.
The carriage door slammed shut, and Lily whipped around to face her friends. She looked infuriated and irritated, her hands balled up into two small fists. Her red hair seemed to add to the brutality that she felt at the moment to her "friends."
"What was that? You were supposed to stick up for me! Not add fuel to the fire!" Lily said, her tine rising.
"We didn't mean to offend you, Lily. It was just sort of came out," Chloe said, her vivid violet eyes wide.
"Seriously, Lils, it's not that big of a deal," Ana continued, anxiously rubbing her hands together.
"Fine. I will let it go this time. Just try not to do it again, please?" Lily said, sitting herself back down again, somewhat returning to her standard mood.
Lily opened up Romeo and Juliet and picked up where she had left off. She perused the book with wonder and curiosity. Hungrily, she whipped through the pages, reading almost as fast as she could; yearning to see what was going to happen next. How could it be, that two people whose families absolutely hated each other were completely in love?
Meanwhile, Chloe was chattering on about the muggle magazine, Cosmopolitan, and was telling Ana about a quiz that she took. Ana, completely uninterested in that sort of thing, daydreamed and gazed out the window.
"...And then, it said that my relationship with Evan had a ninety one percent chance of failure! Should I trust the magazine, or my gut feeling? I..."
"Wait, WHAT? You are going out with Evan?" Lily exclaimed, immediately marking her chapter and throwing the book aside.
"When did this happen?" Ana cried, snapping out of her daydream seconds after Lily's outburst.
Chloe stared at her two friends if they were mentally ill, and lowered, Cosmopolitan onto her lap steadily. Her violet eyes seemed to glisten in the dim light of the carriage, and her hair was now the color of the afternoon sun.
"Why, it happened only a few weeks ago! Didn't you know?"
"NO!" Lily and Ana shouted, startling Chloe immensely. She let out a long sigh and started to explain.
"All right, so here's how it happened. He just moved in next to my house, okay? And our parents are apparently friends, and they had a "Welcome!" party in our house the night they moved in. We started to talk, and everything just seemed to...I don't know _- click? We have so many similarities-"
Lily gave her friend a roll of her eyes and asked, "Like what? He's Ravenclaw's Qudditch captain, isn't the smartest of all the Ravenclaws, is pure blood, and hates to read. You are the exact opposite! You hate playing sports, you're half blood, and you're very intelligent and LOVE to read. How, let me ask you, are you ANYTHING alike?"
Chloe shrugged uncomfortably in place, and brought up something else to talk about. She hated being pressure into talking about things that were none of their business.
"Oh, Summer is in love with Remus, by the way," Chloe blurted out. "But don't tell anyone; it's a secret."
"If you tell us not to tell anyone, it's obviously isn't a public speech, Chloe," Ana said, rolling her eyes.
"That is so cute! Does Remus like her back, I wonder?" Lily said giggling.
"Who knows, but it's probably true. I have seen the way they try to impress each other. It kind of bothers me, but it's adorable at the same time," Ana said.
"Ana, there is absolutely nothing wrong with trying to impress someone. We all know you're good at that," Chloe teased, and Lily snickered. Before she could protest, the carriage came abrupt halt, and the three girls popped out of the carriage and strolled towards the castle. They made their way into the dining hall, and immediately their ears filled with children yammering away with each other, and others clutching their stomachs complaining how hungry they were. Well, no one did that accept Sirius.
"Oh my gosh, are they trying to kill me? I am starving here!" Sirius shouted angrily.
"Padfoot, calm down. It'll come soon. Al that's left is Dumbledore's speech, and then you're free to engulf our whole table's dinner," James said, patting his friend on the back.
"Yeah, and Peter's not here to complete with you this time. He's over there at Hufflepuff table with his new girlfriend, Agnes," Remus said with a look of repugnance, as they all stretched their necks over to see the Hufflepuff table.
There he was, basically ripping the poor girl's face off. They were thrashing about like a pair of eels. People around them cowardly inched away, and whisphered to each other, saying things like, "Get a room!" or "Gosh, can they not see that we are sitting right here?"
James gagged, and Sirius mimicked throwing up into the empty bowl in front of him. Remus only enhanced his look of revulsion, and quickly turned around.
"Good lord, can't he see that we are trying to eat?" James said, making s disgusted face.
"I think I have lost my appetite," Remus said, pushing the bowl in front of him away.
"My eyes! My eyes!" Sirius screamed dramatically.
Sirius muttered into James' ear, "Peter, of all people, has a girlfriend, and you don't, Prongs? That's just sad!"
"Shut it, Pad. Hey, speaking of girlfriends, here comes yours," James said, pointing at Scarlett, who glided towards them, her strawberry blonde hair was flying behind her. Her brown eyes looked relieved when she saw Sirius, and she ran over to hug him, completely ignoring Remus and James.
"Hey, honey. Oh my gosh, I have missed you so much! "She said, kissing him on the cheek multiple times.
"I saw you last week, Scarlett. It's not that long age."
"Yeah it is, baby. Being away from you is not living!!" Scarlett cried, immediately giving him a hug. At the last moment, Lily and her friends sat down next to the Marauders, despite Ana's pleading and glares and motions to sit somewhere else.
"Hey, guys. What's up? Hi, Scarlett," Lily said with a smile, plopping herself next to Remus, who was across from James, Sirius, and Scarlett.
Scarlett replied with a faint hello, before giving Sirius a disapproving stare. He ignored her, and welcomed Ana and Chloe. Ana sat next to Lily moodily, while Chloe sat on the other side of Remus jovially.
"What are they doing here? You shouldn't be hanging out with these people. They're losers!" Scarlett stage whispered to Sirius, who stared angrily back at her. She made sure everyone could hear, and Lily's smile turned into a frown straightaway. Chloe and Remus stopped talking about Shakespeare and immediately stared daggers at Scarlett.
Ana jolted up and hissed, "Sorry was I bothering you? Am I not cool enough for you? Sorry, your highness."
Scarlett shrugged. "You should be. You shouldn't hang out with people who don't even like you."
"Oh, they like me. They've been my friends my whole life! So why don't you take you stupid fat ats and leave us alone before I barf all over your ugly face!" Ana shouted, receiving a hushed silence from the crowd around her.
"Stop trying to scare me away, Wynne. At least I don't run after something that I don't have," Scarlett spat, her eyes narrowing. As if she had planned it, Scarlett kissed Sirius full on the mouth, expecting that he would return it like he always did.
Instead, to her surprise, Sirius pushed her away and said menacingly, "You talk to her like that again and I swear you will wake up in the morning in the middle of Antarctica."
Scarlett shot up, smacked Sirius on the face, and screamed, "We're over!"
"We never started!" Sirius called after her as she rushed to the Ravenclaw table. "She really isn't as smart as she looks. To talk to my friends like that is just rude. What the bloody hell?"
Ana was on the verge to jumping across the table to hug Sirius. Lily looked from Ana to Sirius multiple times, and made eye contact with James. They seemed to have a secret code, and they said to each other, "They seriously need to get together. They're perfect for each other!"
Lily smiled at James, who blushed immensely and turned away briskly. Moments later, Summer came skipping down the hall with some of her friends and stopped at Remus' side to say hello. Her spectacular aquamarine eyes seemed to scream with happiness.
"Hi, Remus," she said shyly, waving at him and throwing him a small smile.
He turned around and gave her a half grin and immediately replied, "Hey, Summer. You look nice today."
She looked at him for a second to make sure she heard right, and then smiled broadly and said, "Thanks. Um...I will see you around, okay?"
Remus nodded and turned to see his friends giggling. He looked at them all and demanded to know what was so funny.
"What's so funny about telling a girl she looks nice?"
James barked with laughter and managed to choke out tidbits of worlds. "Y-you l-like he-her1"
"That's preposterous! I most certainly do not! Remus replied, his eyes straying away from his friends.
"Pfft. Preposterous, eh? Hey, Lils, how much do ya wanna bet that by the end of the year, they will have gone out?" James asked Lily.
"Ten galleons," Lily said simply. She and James shook hands, and Remus shook his head.
"Betting over my love life? Why am I friends with you gits?"
"Oh, Moony, you love us too!" Sirius said playfully.
"Yeah, what's wrong with us? We are just here to show you the truth about your love life. Its fate," Chloe teased, earning a smack on in the arm.
"Speaking of which...who is ready for truth and dare tonight?" Ana shouted receiving whoops from her group of friends.
"Gosh, I can't wait! The annual game is epic, man!" Ana said, giving a high five to all her friends.
All of a sudden, all of the chatter of games and love was interrupted by a booming voice coming from the front of the large dining hall. A rather old man in blue robes stood there gracefully, his strikingly blue eyes twinkling with delight. He hushed down a rambunctious group of Slytherins, and got ready for his big beginning of the year speech. A stern woman to his right wore a high bum atop her head, and gave a black look to the Slytherins, who immediately quiet down when they saw her. She smiled at Albus Dumbledore, signaling him to start the speech, which he did.
"Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say before we dig in. First of all, let me introduce you a new member of our staff, Professor Kettleburn. She will be instructing Care of Magical Creatures for the seven years to come.
"I would also like to remind you that Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you the list of objects forbidden inside to castle has been extended this year to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anyone would like to check it.
"As ever, I would like to remind you all that the Forest outside the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third years.
"Also, throughout this year, keep your friends close, for they might not always be there with you in these troubled times. The bond here at Hogwarts a last a lifetime; therefore, they can last through a war. Thank you." He sat down once again in his chair, and began to merrily convers with Professor McGonagall.
Lily looked at James, who looked at Sirius, who looked at Ana, who looked at Chloe, who looked at Remus. A shiver was sent down each back in the hall at the mention of the Dark Lord, and the hall only murmured and whispered during the rest of the feast. Everything this year was going to be different. And they knew it.