Chapitre 171: Lily's tears
The translation of the riddle that Regulus, Snape, and Gwen solved was as follows:
[Where the shadow grows thick and time seems to stand still, you will find the entrance. Between the oak and hawthorn, the hidden portal awaits. Follow the brooklet westward until the water disappears. There, under the light of the full moon, look for the sign of the centaur in the forbidden forest].
With this translation, it was easy to realize that the vault was in the forbidden forest.
"Forbidden forest. Brook. West... That damn forest is huge. Couldn't it be specific?" asked Sirius with a frown, looking at the large map on the table.
"According to Hagrid, there isn't a complete map of the forest..." commented Lupin with a serious expression.
"This map is the best I could get... Few people were encouraged to map the forest," Regulus said.
"There are areas of the forest that are already off limits to Hogwarts," Snape said with a hand on his chin, looking at the map.
"Those areas we can safely rule out," said James.
"Why?" asked Toby.
"The Japanese wizard created the vaults at Hogwarts because he wanted the protection of the school. He wouldn't create the vault outside the school boundaries," James replied, and Toby nodded in understanding.
"This book talks about the creatures known to inhabit the forbidden forest. Their characteristics and ways to counter or deal with them. This other book talks about the known magical plants and fungi there," Regulus said.
"Well done, Regulus," James praised. He had asked the youngest Black to bring these books and the map of the forbidden forest.
"I'm glad the information will be useful," Regulus said with a smile, happy to be praised by James.
'Since when does he put on that smile for simple praise...?' thought Sirius, looking at his younger brother, who usually has a cold and arrogant expression.
"Well, let's get to work. We should know in advance all the possible dangerous creatures and plants we may encounter once we enter the forest," said James.
"I thought we were starting the expedition today..." said Sirius a little disappointed. He'd rather go into the dangerous and scary forest than do a job with old books.
"You said it yourself. The forest is huge. Remember the fake jungle in the ice vault?" said James, and Sirius got the point.
"We had a really bad time, and it wasn't even real..." nodded Sirius.
"Yes. This forest is real and must have magical creatures and plants far more dangerous than the jungle. We should go prepared," said James, and they all got to work.
By going prepared James meant knowing the magical creatures, plants, and fungi so they could counter them or know how to act when they encountered x creature, plant, or fungus.
For example, in the fake jungle of the ice vault, they encountered a devil's trap that trapped Regulus. Thanks to Gwen knowing his weakness, James was able to cast a Lumos Solem to make the dangerous plant retreat and free Regulus.
Snape sat on a bush that started to catch fire, that they couldn't prevent, as they didn't know that kind of magical bush. Because of this, a forest fire started that was almost fatal for Snape and Company.
Now, they will enter a century-old forest with double, triple, or more magical plants and even creatures that will not be friendly when they see them. They must know their characteristics to be able to deal with them in a possible confrontation.
The night passed slowly, as the group concentrated on categorizing all the magical creatures and plants from most to least dangerous. Knowing how to identify them, strengths, weaknesses, etc.
There were many. Especially magical plants and fungi. The encyclopedias Regulus brought between the two of them exceeded a thousand pages. In addition, they might encounter unknown creatures or plants that did not appear in the books, since no one explored the forbidden forest 100%.
Two hours passed. It was already past two in the morning. James called it a day. Tomorrow they had classes, and they already had five hours to sleep, too little for his liking.
"How long will it take?" asked Sirius in a complaining tone as usual for him when it came to annoying tasks.
"We are eight people working. Maybe a week or a bit more... Besides, we have to learn the information by heart, so we can use it when we are in the forest," replied Lupin, rolling up several parchments with information that he summarized.
"Once we finish this task, I will create several potions that will be of help to us on the expedition. As well as essential antidotes to counteract possible venoms. So it will take longer," said James, who was planning to go to the forbidden forest well-prepared.
They didn't know how long it would take to find the vault, and they would have to go much deeper, perhaps further than Hagrid.
"Tsch, I thought the first few days we'd have the adventure by now," Sirius, complained, but said no more.
"Learn a bit from Potter and be more patient. I'm surprised the sorting hat put you in Gryffindor," Snape said, looking at James with a strange expression. In all the time he had known James, he saw him as having more of the Slytherin qualities, though it wasn't that he didn't possess some Gryffindor qualities like bravery.
Sirius just growled at Snape and didn't start arguing. He had dreams, and it was late at night, he didn't have the energy to start an argument.
This time, James did not accompany Gwen. He put on the invisibility cloak along with Sirius, Toby, Peter, and Lupin and said goodbye to the Slytherin students. When they reached their dormitory they all went to sleep without saying a word. It had been an exhausting day.
The next few days James kept up this routine. He also had his first classes in Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. The introductory classes were heavy and information-heavy. There were not many students. It seemed that these two subjects were not very popular with Hogwarts students.
When about ten days had passed since the first meeting of James and the others at the Dragon Club, James, and Lily, were called to Headmaster Dumbledore's office.
That was the second time James had visited Dumbledore's office. McGonagall was also there. The meeting was short. It lasted only about twenty minutes and it was explained to James and Lily that their application to take advanced Transfiguration classes was accepted.
However, first, they had to demonstrate their knowledge in three exams that would take place over the next week. The first would be on Monday, the second on Wednesday, and the last and most difficult of all on Friday.
James was happy about this news. In a week, he would be able to start his advanced transfiguration class in the sixth year. He would no longer waste time in third-year transfiguration.
Lily was also happy about this, as she considered it a great achievement. On the last exam, she was less than enthusiastic, though only she knew that.
"It's going to be a tough week for you two. You must prepare yourselves. The first exam is in two days," Dumbledore said with a slight smile. Proud that two Gryffindor students were so advanced in transfiguration. He had previously been a professor of the subject. Many years ago.
"The last exam will be the hardest of all... Only students at OWL level take it and many do not make the grade needed to continue their studies in transfiguration. Getting them to give the exams to two third-year students was difficult, I hope their skills are not lies," McGonagall said with a slight frown.
McGonagall was saying this so that they wouldn't waste the school's time and end up failing with low grades. She believed in James and Lily's abilities, but she had to make sure that they had enough fifth-year knowledge to take the exam and get an acceptable grade.
The OWL exams would influence James and Lily's future they could not take them lightly, and getting the council's acceptance for two third-year students to take such advanced exams was very complicated for Dumbledore and McGonagall.
"Don't worry, professor. Our knowledge will be enough to get an E," James said with a confident smile.
An E meant a grade: Exceeds expectations. It is one of the three passing grades, and one of the six grades overall, in Ordinary Wizarding Levels (OWL) and NEWTs.
It is the second highest grade, below Outstanding [O] and above Acceptable [A]. Most Hogwarts professors set their entry standards for NEWT classes at Exceeds Expectations [E] So, if James and Lily wanted to take 6th-year Transfiguration classes minimally they should get this grade.
"That's a lot of confidence, Potter. I hope you'll back it up on exam day," McGonagall said somewhat chidingly and pleased with his answer.
"Professor, Headmaster... I can't take the OWL exam... I studied almost nothing from the fifth-year curriculum," Lily said in a nervous, teary-eyed tone.
"What, why? I thought you said you had completely studied the intermediate transfiguration book," McGonagall said with a frown.
"I'm sorry, I lied!" said Lily starting to cry. James looked at her in surprise, not because of Lily's lie, he was surprised to see her crying.
Perhaps because of the presence of Dumbledore and McGonagall, she became nervous, as they went to the trouble so that she could take an OWL exam, and it seemed that it was not an easy process to be approved.
"Take it easy, student Evans. Have some candy," Dumbledore said with a kind smile extending a red-colored candy to Lily, who accepted it and stopped crying.
"Explain to us, don't worry, you won't be punished. You are one of the best students in all of Hogwarts. This is just a small mishap. As long as a student takes the OWL exam nothing serious will happen," Dumbledore said with a slight smile, looking for a moment at James.
Lily began to explain that she lied because she didn't want to fall behind James and it would be a unique opportunity to be able to take an OWL exam as a third year. As a Muggle-born daughter, she always wanted to show her worth in the magical world, and this was the golden opportunity.
Dumbledore and McGonagall looked for a few seconds at James, who didn't know what face to make at being the cause of this. Both adults sighed internally at the story, Lily was unlucky to be in the same year as this monstrous boy.
Dumbledore knew that James wasn't just making progress in Transfiguration. He was also doing so in Potions, Charms, and especially in Martial Magic and DADA. What kind of super demanding and crazy routine did this boy have? It reminded her of him in his student years, maybe more obsessive.
"It's okay, Lily. It's okay. You'll take the corresponding exams for the third and fourth years. If you pass them you'll take the fifth-year classes," McGonagall said with a slight gentle smile. She held Lily in high regard.
"Thank you, professor," Lily said, wiping away tears and snot. The image was a little funny and cute at the same time.
"As for you, Potter. I hope you pass the OWL exam with an E..." said McGonagall, and James nodded with a strange expression. Why did the professor now seem a bit angry with him?
After that, Lily and James left Dumbledore's office and started heading for the common room. Lily was still breathing erratically, it seemed like it was the first time she had ever felt so nervous at the possibility of being reprimanded by the school authorities.
'She should learn to relax like Sirius...' thought James, watching Lily out of the corner of his eye.
"I'm sorry... Maybe because of me, you ended up wanting to take the fifth-year exam. I should have realized," James said with a strange expression. For some reason, he felt guilty seeing Lily crying when he didn't do anything.
"It's not your fault, James. I was to blame. For my competitiveness I tried to keep up with you..." said Lily with a slight smile and denying with her delicate hand.
'She's right... It's not my fault, but why do I still feel guilty?' thought James.
"But don't relax! I'll catch up with you soon and take the OWL exam!" said Lily, returning with her usual enthusiasm and competitiveness.
"I'll be waiting for you," said James with a smile.
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État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
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