Chapter 49: Halloween
James and Lupin ran towards the infirmary. Opened the door abruptly and noticed the stern gaze of Madame Poppy Pomfrey, the Hogwarts Matron.
"Silence! Where do you think you are? Some people are resting," said Poppy.
"Sorry..." said the two boys sheepishly.
"Is Toby all right?" asked Lupin, looking at the nurse.
"Yes, he's regained consciousness. The other two boys are talking to him," replied Poppy.
James and Lupin, hearing that he was already awake were relieved. As they were about to go, Poppy stopped them, "Only two people can see him at a time," she said in an irrefutable tone, so they had to wait.
"What exactly happened to him?" asked James, who didn't understand the situation at all.
"He was the victim of a hex, specifically the puncture hex. Also, he had several bruises on his back and arms," replied Poppy, "The kids are getting bolder and bolder," she added in disgust.
'The puncture hex?' thought James as the anger inside him grew.
"We found him in the boys' bathroom. His face was unrecognizable. His skin was all swollen, like some kind of allergic reaction or something. Sirius and Peter carried him to the infirmary, and I went looking for you," said Lupin with fury hidden in his tone.
"Any word on who it was?" asked James, though a group of people were already coming to mind.
"No... Sirius must be asking him about it," Just as Lupin said that the door to the infirmary opened, and in walked McGonagall, who had been alerted that a Gryffindor student was attacked.
McGonagall looked at James and Lupin for a second, "Where's the boy?" she asked, looking at Poppy, who led her to where Toby was staying. Within seconds, Sirius and Peter came out of where Toby was staying.
"Did he say anything to them?" asked James impatiently.
"Yes and no..." said Sirius as he started telling them everything Toby told them. First of all, Toby couldn't see the faces of his attackers, as they cast a charm on him that blocked his sight with a blindfold.
There was more than one attacker, he could hear about five voices. The motive of the attack was to ask him about the flower prank that happened several days ago. Who did it, and how?
The attackers wanted proof so they could blame the pranksters and have them punished.
"Despite all the blows they threw at him he didn't say a word about us. That's why they ended up casting the puncture hex on him..." Sirius finished the story with a look rarely seen on his face.
The atmosphere in the waiting room of the infirmary was silent. All four boys had conflicting looks on their faces. They all knew that Toby suffered because of them since he was from their dormitory and previously hung out with them.
"It's obvious it's about that bastard Rabastan and his stupid gang!" growled Sirius after a few seconds.
"I think so too, but if we don't have proof they won't be punished," said Lupin.
Just then McGonagall came out, "Professor, will they find the guilty ones?" asked James, who didn't want them to get off so easy and receive a punishment. Just like he did when he hit Mulciber and Avery with a Flipendo.
"No promises, Potter, but we'll try. We can't let them freely attack students when they go to the bathroom," said McGonagall, who was also angry about this event.
The days went by. Toby had to stay all Friday and part of Saturday to recover and be discharged. In the following days, the culprits of the attack were not found.
James could notice the triumphant smile that Rabastan and his group gave them, with Lupin they had to control Sirius so he wouldn't start a fight every time he saw his arrogant face.
The marauders could do nothing. They were 100% sure it was Rabastan, but they had no proof. The same thing happened to Rabastan when he fell for the marauders' prank. Only this was not a harmless prank and was a vicious attack by five people against one.
The only good news out of this was that one more person joined the marauders, Toby. After the incident, Sirius saw to it that the boy rejoined the group.
Sirius had felt too guilty, as he had always criticized Toby for his cowardice and refused to join them when James invited him, but he could see from this incident that Toby was loyal, and despite the beating, he never gave them away.
James also valued this highly, as Toby did not say that they stole Professor Slughorn's ingredients or that he possessed an invisibility cloak. If Rabastan had known this he would not have kept quiet.
Monday, October 23, 1971.
Halloween week had begun. Perhaps because he was now so busy with quidditch practice three nights a week, plus all the school homework and marauder's night out. James couldn't believe that he had been at Hogwarts for two months or so already.
At this time, they were unable to plan revenge against Rabastan and the others for what they did to Toby. For one thing, because of the homework, they gave him class after class, and for another, they couldn't come up with any pranks that would equal or be better than the first one they did.
The classes were getting more and more interesting now that they knew the basics, especially the Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Potions classes.
As for Charms for James, it was nothing interesting, mainly because he was too far along in this subject. Just this week Professor Flitwick announced in his class that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something everyone was dying to practice except James.
The levitating charm (Wingardium leviosa) was already well mastered and practiced. Thanks to this, he managed to get ten easy points for Gryffindor.
As for Potions, although it was a subject he studied a lot like Charms, Professor Slughorn took a different approach, and in his syllabus, he taught potions that James had not made before, so he learned a lot.
On Halloween morning he awoke to the delicious aroma of baked pumpkin wafting through the corridors. As he entered the Great Hall followed by Sirius and the others, they could see the Halloween decorations.
A thousand bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling, while a thousand more passed between the tables, like black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins tremble. Food suddenly appeared on the golden plates, as it had at the banquet at the beginning of the year.
"The following Saturday is the first quidditch match, right?" asked Sirius, helping himself to a stuffed potato.
"Yes, this is the last week of training. We're up against Ravenclaw first match," replied James as he grabbed a caramel-dipped apple.
"We're on?" asked Lupin.
"Well, I'm not playing, but I'm like one of the team," said James. He was nervous for the first game of the year, but not that nervous since he wasn't supposed to play and the responsibility wasn't on him.
That Halloween night was one of James' best days at Hogwarts. It was a great party, and he had a lot of fun with the marauders and other Gryffindors.
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