32 ~ When the Idiots Got Even Dumber

The Hogwarts Express had barely left the station before dignity was already lost somewhere.

     Okay, Phil, you can do this, I reassured myself in my thoughts and stared at the wall. A wall that Lily had, mind you, disappeared through. We were at the station and even stranger than the fact that the Muggles did not notice that we were walking through a wall was that one could walk through a wall at all.     Since I did not want to keep Lily waiting any longer, however, I set off with my trunk. I got closer and closer to the wall, squeezed my eyes shut as I prepared for a collision, but it did not come.

Strange...

     I could walk through the wall without any problems. It felt as if I were walking through a cold mist.          On the other side I opened my eyes and spotted Lily, who was waiting for me with her luggage trolley. Her owl Snow-White even gave a short chirp. Unlike Lily, I only had to carry one trunk. That was why Lily seemed to be stressed. She wanted to stow her luggage in time, even though the locomotive would not leave for another hour.     "See, you survived," Lily laughed and set off.      I followed, no longer wondering about Lily. Whenever she was stressed, she tried to get everything done as quickly as possible.           Unfortunately, I could not admire the large red locomotive.     On the platform stood many parents with their children and the first-years seemed very excited. I did not want to bump into anyone and took my gaze off the people, focused on Lily. She reached the luggage drop-off.          Only when that was done could the redhead breathe a sigh of relief.     "So, now we'll find ourselves a big compartment, and then we've done it!" she said happily and set off briskly once again. Walking beside the locomotive, I noticed how large it was and the first people were already taking their seats inside.     Lily also climbed into the locomotive and said, "The girls and I always sit at the front, maybe someone's already there."          After these words I followed her into the Hogwarts Express, afterwards we went along compartment by compartment. I looked at everything. Somehow I was excited to experience what I should have experienced since my eleventh birthday. I was happy and Lily quickly found a compartment.     "Dorcas!" she greeted. A girl with brown curls and even darker skin than usual jumped up.          "Lily!" The two hugged each other, then I was crushed in a hug as my name was shouted into my ear. "Oh, it was already so boring. I've been here for an hour already," Dorcas complained, "my little brother Benjamin is coming to Hogwarts this year and home was a catastrophe..."     I noticed that Dorcas was wearing her shirt the wrong way round. When I told her, she waved it off and said that we would have to put our uniforms on anyway. In any case, her shirt made it clear that there really had been stress at her home.     "Helloooo!" came the next moment. Mare stood in the compartment doorway. She grinned widely and we all greeted her. A little later Alice even arrived, strangely with flushed cheeks.

Yes, many things are strange today.

     Hastily she shut the compartment door behind her. We all looked at her in confusion.           Alice slid down onto the floor and Dorcas crouched down in front of her, but Alice explained herself straight away, "I know, bad greeting, but I just ran into Frank and accidentally told him that I think he's handsome. IN FRONT of his friends. Please, kill me..." she pleaded, but to Alice's misfortune we all had to laugh. I knew that Alice had fancied a Hufflepuff since fourth year, but that it was already this bad was new to me.     "So, I'm quite happy to be greeted with love drama," Mare said and peered out of the window by the door, "Is Longbottom nearby?"          "Psst!" Alice hissed, "Not so loud!"     "Alright, Al, but don't you want to stand up and calmly tell us what happened?" Dorcas asked calmly. The addressed girl shook her head.          "He was just in this corridor when I was looking for you guys. I walked straight into him and he helped me up. His hands held me by my shoulders and I looked into his handsome eyes. I wanted to thank him, but it slipped out that his eyes are beautiful, then I kept stuttering. In the end I told him that I think he's completely handsome! Oh, I'm so stupid. He was embarrassed and his friends grinned. I ran off, found you and now kill me, please..."     "Why should we kill you, that's fantastic!" Dorcas cheered. She was rewarded with a deadly glare.          "Why is it fantastic, please?!" Alice complained and her head landed on her knees. However, Dorcas pulled her back up and sat her onto the seat.     "Maybe now something will finally happen between you."          "Yes, he'll definitely think I'm weird and crazy because I ran off..."     I knew that Alice was downcast, yet I had to try hard not to smile. I would have loved to see the picture of Alice running away from Frank Longbottom.     "Not true!" Lily cut in now. She sat down beside me, her gaze going to Alice.          "It can only be answered by the future," I said, and Lily looked at me reproachfully, "I mean, he won't think you're strange. Maybe even sweet, if that's the right word?" I corrected myself. Mare nodded strongly.     "Yes, he'll find it sweet," she confirmed, "boys like honest compliments."          "Really...?" Alice did not sound convinced at all.     "Yes, you'll see," Dorcas said, "but now let's think about something else. We're going into sixth year, girls!" she cheered and let out a shout of joy. We others laughed.     Shortly afterwards the Hogwarts Express set off.

     The landscape of Scotland passed us by and I had the seat by the window facing the direction of travel. The girls talked about the summer, what they had done, while my eyes admired the scenery. It slowly became dark and I had not even thought that the journey to Hogwarts took so long.     In the meantime we had bought sweets, yet we never ran out of topics to talk about. Mare told us that she had been in Italy with her parents, and Alice told us about a big family celebration. Dorcas gave us a detailed account of everything that had gone wrong for her this morning, but a little later we had all put on our uniforms. Lily proudly presented her prefect badge to the girls, telling us that the eight prefects together with the two Head Students would soon have a small meeting. She kept wondering who had become the second prefect from Gryffindor, but that question answered itself in the very next moment.     Without warning and forcefully the compartment door was pulled open. Mare flinched and let out a small cry.          "Black!" Dorcas snapped, clutching her rapidly beating heart, "What are you doing here?!"     He stood calmly in place. That his white shirt had too many buttons open at the front seemed to be intentional. But of course Sirius Black was not alone, because all the Marauders were present. Pettigrew stood behind Black, on the other side of the door Potter and Remus could be seen.     "We wanted to pay the ladies a little visit," Black explained his behaviour, but Lily saw it differently.          "I see, and weren't you taught not to open doors without knocking?"     Sirius Black grinned. "Scaring you was simply fun. And that scream, Macdonald, was that you?" He looked at Mare, "I didn't know you could hit such octaves, impressive. I wonder if you can go even higher and during which activities, I wonder."     Now almost all of our jaws dropped. Towards the end, Black's grin had turned dirty.      Potter beside him began to snort with laughter, and Pettigrew seemed shocked, though amused. Remus, however, gave his friend an amused look, then his eyes fell on me.      I caught his gaze. I did not know why, but his gaze was intense.

Strange again...

     "You are disgusting and obscene, Black!" Lily snapped as she jumped up. She drew herself up and stepped towards the door. Mare, however, seemed irritated by Black's words. Alice was simply shocked.          "I can live with that, Evans!" he shot back. Lily crossed her arms in front of her chest.     "You know, Evans, your eyes sparkle beautifully when you're angry," came the voice of James Potter. Of course he had to interfere.Lily's head snapped towards him. Her jaw tensed and she had to look up to give the glasses-wearer her deadliest glare.     "Yes, exactly what I meant, they practically shine." Potter leaned down slightly towards Lily to examine her eyes more closely, but Lily finally lost her temper.          "One step further and I'll hit you in the face with full force, Potter," she threatened. Her voice was ice-cold.     Her counterpart raised his hands in mock innocence and, with a grin on his lips, Potter straightened up again. Black, however, looked as if he would soon wet himself from laughter.

I hope so, then at least he'd be gone...

     "That's enough and you're annoying!" Dorcas cut in and stepped beside Lily. "Say what you want now, or leave."          "Dear Remus is a prefect and was just heading to the meeting. And we thought we'd pick Evans up together and say hello to all of you. Specifically Phil, because she's going to Hogwarts for the first time. Hello, Phil." Grey eyes looked at me and the rest of the Marauders did as well.     "Hello...?" I replied, clearly confused. Mare and Alice gave me a warning look that I should not start a conversation with Black, so I did not.     "Good, you've greeted Phil, now go," Dorcas demanded and removed Black's hand from the doorframe. I once again felt Remus' gaze briefly on me until Lily directed her voice at him: "You're really a prefect?"          "Indeed," Remus replied proudly.     Lily sighed: "Let's go to the meeting..."     With these words Lily squeezed past the boys. She and Remus disappeared, then the other Marauders said goodbye and for a moment I was surprised that they actually left us alone.     Dorcas quickly closed the compartment door, afterwards I first had to tell them why the Marauders knew that I was going to Hogwarts this year. I told them about the day in Diagon Alley, which also revealed the secret of why Potter had given Lily a compliment. After my story the girls continued to complain about the boys, but quickly decided that it was unnecessary. Lily returned after an hour, later we reached the station in Hogsmeade.

Remus' POV:

     "Ouch!" I said and held my shoulder. I looked down to the left at Lily, who clearly held our visit to her compartment against me.     "What was that for? I didn't do anything at all," I defended myself, and I was right, because only Padfoot and Prongs had spoken.          "It's enough that you were there and the way you stared at Phil! What kind of look was that?" the redhead snapped.     I did not know that having eyes was no longer allowed now. Yes, I had looked at Phil, but what was the problem? I simply found her interesting.     "What kind of look?" I played dumb.           Lily groaned. "That arrogance doesn't suit you, Remus, better, Lupin." Once again I received a nasty look and I knew that the Gryffindor had a protective instinct for Phil.     "Is it forbidden to look at her?" I raised an eyebrow and held Lily's gaze, while her eyes narrowed into slits.          "For you and your friends it is forbidden, yes," she made clear, "Phil is far too nice and unfortunately sees something good in you lot. So yes, I don't want you to corrupt her, you neither, Remus. You were actually alright the last three to four years, but the last year you've been getting worse and worse. If one of you idiots gets close to Phil in a very specific way, I'll rip off your heads and something else, understood? As a tip, it's the thing between your legs. And tell Black that he in particular should stay away from my friends!"

That's a statement, I'll give her that.

     With these words from Lily we reached the compartment where the meeting took place. Without waiting for an answer from me, she disappeared. I remained standing for a moment and the Hogwarts Express rattled along the tracks.     I thought about Lily's words. Of course I could not have told her that I found Phil interesting because she was like me. Likewise I could not have told her that Padfoot and Prongs had gone to their compartment because Sirius had wanted to distract himself from the incident in the summer. He had moved out from home, been thrown out and was now living with Prongs. It had naturally affected him, because the argument with his family had been so severe that he had even been disowned.          So yes, I could not have told Lily that, nor that Prongs had also wanted to go to the compartment to see her.     However, that Lily had said that I was arrogant and becoming like my friends was definitely exaggerated for me, but not an insult. I certainly would not take her threat seriously and would continue to talk to Phil.     With that thought I entered the compartment and the meeting took place. After it ended, I went back to the other Marauders.

Elizabeth's POV:

     Ah, life could be beautiful. Especially when one could admire the irritated face of mutt. A true work of art.          "What?" I asked in surprise.     Dinner in the Great Hall was over and there was a large rush towards the moving staircases. Until the dungeons I had decided to keep Black company. A long company, since we were only moving at walking pace.     "I was hoping you'd died over the summer," Black said already.          "Wow..." I held my hand to my heart. "I only asked how your summer was. Someone's sensitive. I didn't know boys could get their periods. But considering your long hair..."     Not that I had anything against long hair on men - they could look good - but I knew that it provoked Black.          Grey eyes flashed at me.     Since fourth year Black had grown and now he was a little more than a hand's breadth taller than me. No longer just half a hand's breadth, which was terribly sad.

Truly devastating.

     "Alright, you know what," Black decided to be friendlier, "my summer was pleasant. How was your summer?"          "So nice of you to ask," I played along. For the time being his friends still did not interfere, but I saw how Potter was watching us. Lupin as well - who would soon be a giraffe - and Pettigrew were listening.          "My summer was nothing special," I told him, "my parents bought a new house. We want to renovate it and sell it on. It's really pretty, so you wouldn't be able to afford it."     "If it has even been touched by a hint of Lestrange, I don't want it anyway."          "Hm," I shrugged my shoulders and briefly thought about my summer. Something interesting had actually happened, but I would not tell Black about the neighbour boy and son of my parents' friends with whom I had started a relationship. His name was Adrian Prince and he was taught at home.     So we would not see each other until the Christmas holidays, although I did not even know whether it was anything serious. Maybe it could have been something, but because my charming mother had said that I should marry him in the future, I would probably soon break up with him. Best during the holidays or by owl.

Marriage?Disgusting, ugh.

     I did not want to depend on a man. I was a proud woman and would live alone in the future. No man, no stinking children. Just me and good books. Sev would of course be allowed to visit me.     "I also worked on new potions. You know, my own improvements and such - what witches like to do," I continued. "I also read a lot, but of course you wouldn't understand that. So what lovely things did you do?"          Black gave me an annoyed look.     He seemed to suspect that I was hinting at the fact that his parents had thrown him out onto the street. So he had mutated into a real street mutt. Funny.     How did I know that?           Regulus had told me in the Hogwarts Express.     Alright, I had pressed it out of him, because I wanted to stay up-to-date in mutt's life in order to annoy him as best as possible. Sixth year would therefore be wonderful.          "It's none of your bloody business," Black said.     I shrugged my shoulders and saw that the entrance to the dungeons appeared in front of me. So I concluded, "Anyway, just remember that I know everything. Really everything," I walked further away, "and we'll see each other plenty this year. I hope we have Defence Against the Dark Arts together. The new Professor Grey is very talented and will teach me how to throw you against the wall."          "The name Grey means only Death Eater to me," Black spat, and he was right; the family name Grey was respected.     I only grinned. "Exactly, that's why it'll be brilliant, mutt. Or should I rather say street mutt? Because, you know."     After these words I finally saw how Black wanted to come towards me, but I simply strolled into the dungeons and by the time I reached my dormitory I was in an excellent mood.           My sixth year at Hogwarts could begin.

***

Very last note from me:

Looking back, I can say that it gave me great pleasure to revise the first chapters. Above all, I enjoyed finally doing Elizabeth more justice. You will now read a lot from her, because sixth year at Hogwarts has begun :)

I would of course be happy to receive feedback. Perhaps a character has stolen your heart and you will keep reading.Have fun!

🩷🩷🩷

Kind regardsRaVen