The conversation had droned on long after all the details had been described and discussed, long after James had grown bored with it. He wanted to get back so that he could sleep, but more than that, he wanted time to think about what the dryad had said. He wanted to work out what the island was for, what the poem on the gate meant. He worked to remember it, itching to write it down while it was still fresh in his mind. He was sure, somehow, that it all fit in with the story of Austramaddux and the secret plot of the Slytherins to bring back Merlin and start a final war with the Muggle world. He wasn’t even asking himself anymore if it was true. It had to be true, and it was up to him to prevent it.
Finally, the adults finished talking. They had determined that the mysterious island, while obviously dangerous, was just one of the many mysterious and inexplicable dangers that made the Forbidden Forest forbidden. The primary concern was still discovering how the intruder had gotten in, and making sure no one else was able to do it again. With that resolution, the meeting broke up.
Headmistress McGonagall had accompanied James, Zane, and Ted back to the castle, instructing them to do their best to keep the discussions of the night a secret.
“Especially you, Mr. Lupin,” she said sternly. “The last thing we need is you and your band of hooligans running off into the woods in the middle of the night attempting to duplicate Mr. Potter’s and Mr. Walker’s experiences.”
Fortunately, Ted knew enough not to try to deny the possibility of such a thing. He merely nodded and said, “Yes, ma’am.”
James only saw his dad once more during his visit, and that was after classes that evening, just as Harry, Titus, and the Ministry officials were preparing to leave. Neville had returned to Hogwarts that afternoon, and he chaperoned James to the Headmistress’ office to say goodbye to Harry and the rest. The group planned to travel via the Floo Network, as they had arrived, and had decided upon the Headmistress’ fireplace for their departure since it was the most secure. If it struck Neville odd that the office now belonged to his former teacher, who he’d known as Professor McGonagall, instead of to Albus Dumbledore, he didn’t let on. But he did pause for a moment next to the portrait of the former headmaster.
“Off again, is he?” he asked Harry.
“I think he generally just sleeps here. Dumbledore’s got portraits all over the place,” Harry sighed. “Not to mention all his old Chocolate Frog cards. He still shows up in them sometimes just for fun. I keep mine in my wallet, just in case.” He pulled his wallet out and slipped a dog-eared card out of it. The portrait space was empty. Harry grinned at Neville as he put it back.
Neville moved to the group congregated around the fireplace. Harry squatted down next to James.
“I wanted to thank you, James.”
James hid the look of pride that surfaced on his face. “I was just doing what you asked us to do.”
“I don’t just mean coming along with us and helping us find out what happened,” Harry said, putting a hand on James’ shoulder. “I mean for spying the intruder on the field and pointing him out to me. And for being alert enough to see him the other times. You’ve got a sharp eye and an alert mind, my boy. I shouldn’t be surprised, and I’m not.”
James grinned. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Don’t forget what we talked about the other night, though. Remember?”
James remembered. “I won’t be saving the world single-handedly.” I’ll have at least Zane’s help, he thought, but didn’t say, and maybe Ted’s, too, now that Ralph’s abandoned me.
Harry hugged his son, and James hugged him back. They grinned at each other, Harry with his hands on James’ shoulders, and then he stood, leading James over to the fireplace.
“Tell Mum I’m doing good and eating my vegetables,” James instructed his dad.
“And are you?” Harry asked, raising one eyebrow.
“Well, yes and no,” James said, a bit uncomfortable as everyone looked at him.
“Make it true and I’ll tell her,” Harry said, removing his glasses and tucking them into his robe.
Moments later, the room was empty but for James, Headmistress McGonagall, and Neville.
“Professor Longbottom,” the Headmistress said, “I suspect it’d be best for me to inform you of all that has happened these past twenty hours.”
“You mean regarding the campus intruder, Madam?” Neville asked.
The Headmistress looked markedly taken aback. “I see. Perhaps I might simply be repeating myself, then. Do tell me what you’ve already heard, Professor.”
“Merely that, Madam. Word amongst the students is that a man was seen or captured on the Quidditch pitch yesterday. The common theory is that he was a representative of the gambling community either reporting on or influencing the match. Pure rubbish, of course, but I assume it’s better to let tongues wag and inflate the tale to something ridiculous than to deny anything.”
“Mr. Potter would no doubt agree with you,” the Headmistress said pointedly. “Although, since I will be requiring your services in increasing the security of the grounds, I should explain to you precisely what did occur. James, you are free to wait a moment, aren’t you? I shall not detain the professor for long, and he will accompany you down to the corridor.” Without waiting for a reply, she turned back to Neville, launching into a detailed account of the previous night.
James knew the whole story, of course, but still felt he was meant to wait near the door, as far from earshot as possible. It was uncomfortable and vaguely annoying. He felt rather proprietary about the intruder, having been the first to see him, and having been the one to point him out on the Quidditch pitch. It was just like adults to deny something a kid said, then, when it proved true, to completely take over and dismiss the kid. He realized that this was another part of why he hadn’t yet told any adults about his suspicions concerning the Slytherin-Merlin plot. He felt even stronger now about keeping that his secret, at least until he could prove something substantial.
James crossed his arms and hovered near the door, turning to look back at Neville, who was seated in front of the Headmistress’ desk, and McGonagall, who was pacing slightly behind it as she spoke.
“What are you up to, Potter?” a low voice drawled behind James, making him jump. He spun around wildly, eyes wide. The voice cut him off before he could respond. “Don’t ask who I am and don’t waste my time with a load of pointless lies. You know exactly who I am. And I know, even more than your own father, that you are up to something.”
It was, of course, the portrait of Severus Snape. The dark eyes probed James coldly, the mouth turned down into a knowing sneer.
“I’m���,” James began, and then stopped, feeling very strongly that if he lied, the portrait would know. “I’m not going to tell.”
“A more honest answer than any ever provided by your father, at least,” Snape drawled, keeping his voice low enough not to attract the attention of McGonagall or Neville. “It’s a pity I’m not still alive to be headmaster or I’d find ways of getting the tale from you, one way��� or another.”
“Well,” James whispered, feeling a little braver now that shock had worn off, “I guess it’s a good thing you aren’t headmaster anymore, then.” He thought it might be a bit too much to say it’s a good thing you’re dead. James’ dad had a load of respect for Severus Snape. He’d even made Severus Albus’ middle name.
“Don’t try the smart tactic with me, Potter,” the portrait said, but more tiredly than angrily. “You, unlike your father, know well enough now that I was as devoted to Albus Dumbledore and the downfall of Voldemort as was he. Your father believed it was up to him to win battles entirely on his own. He was foolish and destructive. Don’t think I didn’t see that very same look in your eye not five minutes ago.”
James couldn’t think what to say. He just met the portrait’s dark gaze and frowned stubbornly.
Snape sighed theatrically. “Have it your way, then. Like Potter, like son. Never learning the lesso
ns of the past. But know this: I will be watching you, as I did your father. If your unnamed suspicions are, against all probability, accurate, be assured that I will be working toward the same end as you. Try, Potter, not to make the same mistakes as your father. Try not to leave others to pay the consequences for your arrogance.”
That last stung James to the core. He assumed Snape would leave his portrait frame after a salvo like that, confident of having had the last word, but he didn’t. He stayed, that same penetrating stare on his face, reading James like a book. Still, there wasn’t anything specifically malicious in that gaze, despite the pointed words.
“Yeah,” James finally found the voice to say. “Well, I’ll keep that in mind.” It was a lame response and he knew it. He was only eleven, after all.
“James?” Neville said behind him. James turned and looked up at the professor. “Sounds like you had an exciting night last night. I’m curious about the vines that attacked you. Maybe you could tell me more about them sometime, yes?”
“Sure,” James said, his lips feeling numb. When he turned back toward the door, following Neville out, the portrait of Snape was still occupied. The eyes followed him darkly as he left the room.
9. The Debate Betrayal
As James became more familiar with the routine of school, time seemed to slip past almost without his noticing. Zane continued to excel at Quidditch, and James continued to feel an uncomfortable mix of emotions about Zane’s success. He still felt the stab of jealousy when he heard the crowd cheer for one of Zane’s well-hit Bludgers, but he couldn’t help smiling at how much the boy loved the sport, how he delighted in each match, in the teamwork and camaraderie. Also, James was growing increasingly confident of his own broom skills. He practiced with Zane on the Quidditch pitch many evenings, asking Zane for tips on technique. Zane, for his part, was always enthusiastic and supportive, telling James that he’d definitely make the Gryffindor team next year.
“Then I’ll have to stop practicing with you and giving you pointers, you know,” Zane said, flying next to James and calling over the roar of the air. “It’d be like consorting with the enemy.” As usual, James couldn’t tell if Zane was joking or not.
James enjoyed becoming more confident on the broom, but he was surprised to discover that he loved football. Tina Curry had divided all of her classes into teams and arranged a casual game schedule for them to play against one another. Many students had grasped the essential concepts of the game and being competitive at heart, had worked to make the class-time matches interesting. Occasionally, a student would forget the nonmagical nature of the sport and would be seen frantically searching their pockets for their wands or simply pointing at the ball and yelling something like “Accio football!”, resulting in a general breakdown of the match while everyone laughed. Once, a Hufflepuff girl had simply grabbed the ball in both hands, forgetting the basic rules of the game, and charged down the field as if she were playing rugby. James discovered, rather reluctantly, that Professor Curry’s assessment of his skills had been fairly accurate. He was a natural. He could control the ball easily with the tips of his trainers as he zigged and zagged down the field. His ball-handling was regarded as among the best of any of the new players, and his scoring rate was second only to fifth-year Sabrina Hildegard, who, like Zane, was Muggleborn and unlike Zane, had played on Muggle leagues when she was younger.
James and Ralph, however, barely talked. James’ initial anger and resentment had simmered down to a stubborn aloofness. Some small part of him knew that he should forgive Ralph, and even apologize for yelling at him that day in the Great Hall. He knew that if he’d kept his cool, Ralph probably would have seen the error of siding with his Slytherin housemates. Instead, Ralph seemed to feel it was his duty to support the Slytherins and the Progressive Element as earnestly as he could. If it wasn’t for the fact that even Ralph’s enthusiastic support was rather weak-willed and doleful, James would have found it easier to stay angry at him. Ralph wore the blue badges, and he attended the debate meetings in the library, but he did so with such a dogged attitude of obligation that it seemed to do more harm than good. If any of the Slytherins actually spoke to him, he’d jerk upright and respond with manic eagerness, then deflate as soon as they turned their attention elsewhere. It hurt James a little to watch it, but not enough to make him change his attitude toward Ralph.
In his room at night or in a corner of the library, James would study the poem he and Zane had seen on the gate to the Grotto Keep. With Zane’s help, he had written it down from memory and was confident it was accurate. Still, he couldn’t seem to make much of it. All he knew for sure was that the first two lines referred to the fact that the Grotto Keep could only be found by moonlight. The rest was a puzzle. He kept fetching up on the line that read ‘Did wake his languid sleep’, wondering if that could refer to Merlin. But Merlin wasn’t asleep, was he?
“Makes it sound like he’s Rip Van Winkle,” Zane whispered one day in the library. “Snoozing away a few hundred years out under a tree somewhere.” Zane had had to explain the fairy tale of Rip Van Winkle, and James considered it. He knew from hearing his dad’s conversations with other Aurors that much of Muggle mythology came from long, distant encounters with witches and wizards. Stories of wizarding lore made their way into Muggle fairy tales, became stylized or altered, and grew into legends and myth. Perhaps, James mused, this story of the long sleeper, who awoke hundreds of years later, was a Muggle echo of the story of Merlin. Still, it didn’t get James or Zane any closer to figuring out how Merlin could possibly return after so many centuries, nor did it offer any clues as to who might be involved in such a conspiracy.
At night, as he was drifting to sleep, James often found his thoughts returning, strangely enough, to his conversation with the portrait of Severus Snape. Snape had said he’d be watching James, but James couldn’t imagine how that could be. There was only one portrait of Snape on the Hogwarts grounds, as far as James knew, and it was up in the Headmistress’ office. How could Snape possibly be watching James? Snape had been a powerful wizard, and a potions genius according to Dad and Mum, but how would either of those things allow his portrait to see around the castle? Still, James didn’t doubt Snape. If Snape said he was watching him, James felt confident that, somehow or other, it was true. It was only after two weeks of mulling over the conversation he’d had with Snape that James realized what struck him most about it. To Snape, unlike James and the rest of the wizarding world, it was a foregone conclusion that James was just like his father. “Like Potter, like son,” he’d said, sneering. Ironically, though, to Snape, if no one else, this was not precisely a good thing.
As the leaves in the Forbidden Forest began to settle into the browns and yellows of autumn, the blue Progressive Element buttons were augmented by the posters and banners for the first All-School Debate. As Ralph had predicted, the theme was ‘Re-evaluating the Assumptions of the Past: Truth or Conspiracy’. As if the words themselves weren’t enough, the right side of each banner and poster bore a drawing of a lightning bolt that was enchanted to shift into the shape of a question mark every few seconds. Zane, who, according to Petra, was quite good at debate, told James that the school debate committee had argued for quite some time about the topic of the first event. Tabitha Corsica was not on the debate committee, but her crony, Philia Goyle, was the committee chair.
“So in the end,” Zane had reported to James, “the debate team turned out to be a great example of democracy in action: they argued all night, then she chose.” He shrugged wearily.
The sight of the signs and banners, and especially, that very unambiguous lightning bolt, made James’ blood boil. Seeing Ralph on a ladder finishing hanging one of the banners just outside the door to Technomancy class was more than he could take.
“I’m surprised you can reach like that, Ralph,” James said, anger pushing the words out, “what with Tabitha Corsica’s hand so far up your backside.”
Zane, who’d been wal
king next to James, sighed and ducked into the classroom. Ralph hadn’t noticed James until he spoke. He glanced down, his expression surprised and wounded. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded.
“It means, I’d think by now, you’d have gotten sick of being her little first-year puppet.” James already regretted saying anything. The guileless misery on Ralph’s face shamed him.
Ralph had the mantra down well, though. “Your people are the puppetmasters, preying on the fears of the weak-minded to maintain the demagoguery of prejudice and unfairness,” he said, but without much conviction. James rolled his eyes and walked into the classroom.
Professor Jackson was absent from his usual spot behind the teacher’s desk. James sat next to Zane in the front row. As he sat down, he made a point of joking and laughing with a few other Gryffindors nearby, knowing Ralph was watching through the doorway. The mean pleasure it gave him was hollow and raw, but it was pleasure nonetheless.
Finally, the room hushed. James looked up and saw Professor Jackson entering, carrying something under his arm. The object was large, flat, and wrapped in cloth.
“Good morning, class,” he said in his usual, brusque manner. “Your last week’s essays are graded and on my desk. Mr. Murdock, would you mind distributing them, please? On the whole, I am not terribly disappointed, although I think most of you can be relieved that Hogwarts does not generally grade on the curve.”
Jackson carefully set his parcel on the desk. As he unfolded the cloth from around it, James could see that it was a stack of three rather small paintings. He thought of the painting of Severus Snape and his attention perked up.
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