End of year party
The week in which James and the others had to wait for the exam grades was strange.
Mainly because they didn't have to do anything and had a lot of free time, James tried to take advantage of it and kept practicing different defensive spells like Aeromanteo or Protego.
Sirius and the others as they had nothing to do joined James in the secret room and continued with their duels: 1vs1 2v2 or all versus all. James started practicing Protego by having his friends attack him.
He also continued to study and put into practice the advice in the Occlumency book, but progress was slow. He was not depressed, as he knew that Occlumency was very difficult. It was not as simple as a charm that you could learn in a matter of days.
As for the Dragon Club, he didn't attend too much. First of all, because it wasn't mandatory, and on the other hand, he didn't have people she trusted to practice on. The only ones were Erika, Gwen, and Bob. With Gwen, he stopped talking to each other after the fight. Bob seemed more reluctant to talk to him since Gwen despised him, and as for Erika, she was a very busy student.
"Fumos!" shouted both Sirius and Lupin. A large cloud of smoke filled the entire dueling area. James watched as the figures of his two friends disappeared in the cloud of smoke.
They were currently having a duel: James versus Sirius and Lupin. When two Fumos were thrown, James calculated that he would need two standard Ventus to completely disperse the cloud, but before he could do so he was attacked.
"Expelliarmus!" shouted Sirius from within the cloud of smoke.
"Petrificus Totalus!" shouted Lupin also from within the cloud of smoke.
From both clouds of smoke James could see two flashes coming out, one red and one purple.
"Protego!" exclaimed James, waving his wand quickly. An invisible shield managed to protect him from the attacks of Sirius and Lupin, who clicked their tongues in annoyance.
His strategy was a good one. The cloud of smoke made it harder to react as out of nowhere came a flash heading your way. Also, the speeds of both had improved a lot compared to months ago.
However, James controlled Aeromanteo very well. A defensive charm that relies entirely on reflexes. He was able to block both attacks by using Protego.
Practicing Aeromanteo, also served to increase his reflexes and have a greater reaction when using Protego.
'I can play that game too...' thought James with a slight smile as he threw Fumos and hid in the cloud of smoke just like his two friends.
A gigantic cloud of smoke covered the entire dueling area. Toby and Peter, who were watching intently, had no idea where the participants were.
After a few minutes of tension, seeing that neither Sirius nor Lupin wanted to act, James decided to make his move.
"Ventus duo!" exclaimed James, and from his wand came a powerful wind that dispersed the clouds of smoke and exposed both Sirius and Lupin.
Sirius and Lupin were struggling to stay on their feet and not be pushed by the powerful wind. In this position, they could not fight back and were defenseless.
When the wind died down and they were ready to continue the fight, James had already sent a Petrificus Totalus that managed to petrify both of them.
Sirius and Lupin's arms and legs stiffened and fell to the ground like a board. They were hard as a rock, only their eyes were still moving.
James walked over and looked down. Sirius and Lupin's expressions were stiff, giving him a very jokey look, "Well played, you've improved," he said with a slight smile.
Sirius was rolling his eyes like mad. He wanted him to release them from the jinx. "Finite," said James, pointing his wand at both of them.
Suddenly their arms and legs were free, "Ugh.... The protego is too broken," complained Sirius, standing up and massaging his numb legs.
"We need to aim for the weak point of the shield... or so I think," said Lupin getting up and wiping the dust off his robes.
After having several duels, everyone went and sat in the couch area. Similar to the Gryffindor common room.
"What do you say we have one last prank?" asked Sirius, who was bored.
"No more time. In two days it's the end-of-term party, and after that, we get our exam notes," replied Lupin, shaking his head.
In the pranks they played they needed days and even weeks of preparation, before going into action.
"I'm not saying to make a prank as complicated as the previous ones. You know, a more normal prank, like Peeves' pranks, throwing water balloons at girls, stuff like that," Sirius explained vaguely.
"Peeves' pranks always end badly. We'll end up punished, well there's not much time for punishment anymore, but we could get house points taken off," said James, joining the conversation.
"Slytherin still in the lead?" asked Toby.
"Yes... by thirty points they pass us...'" replied Sirius grumpily. Thanks to winning the quidditch championship, Slytherin was winning the house cup. Otherwise, Gryffindor would be first.
"Well, they're already champions, right? I mean, there are no lessons anymore. So we can't earn points to beat them," said Peter dejectedly.
"Yes... The only way is if some Slytherin student violates some rule and gets house points deducted," replied James with a frown. It was very difficult for such a thing to happen, and if for some reason it did happen, that Slytherin student would be beaten by everyone in his or her house.
They all sighed with disappointment, it was so close to the house cup, but unfortunately, Slytherin won it for another year in a row. They would have to put up with their celebrations at the party.
...
Two days passed. The marauders and the Gryffindor first years headed to the end-of-the-year party that night. When they arrived the Great Hall was relatively full.
The full table was that of Slytherin, who were laughing and chatting happily, rare to see in their daily arrogant expressions. The Great Hall was decorated in Slytherin colors, in green and silver, to celebrate the triumph of that house winning the cup.
A large banner displayed the Slytherin snake covering the wall behind the teachers' table. Professor McGonagall had her usual stern expression, but she looked angrier than usual. As head of house for Gryffindor, she was very unhappy about losing the house cup by such a small margin, but there was nothing she could do about it.
James sat at the Gryffindor table with the others, and they chatted without as much animosity as the Slytherins. Headmaster Dumbledore arrived a few moments later, and the conversations stopped.
"Another year gone!" said Dumbledore cheerfully, "I'm going to disturb you with old man talk before you can eat the delicious delicacies. Hopefully, your heads will be a wee bit fuller than when you arrived... You now have all summer to clear your heads before you start next year," continued Dumbledore as he looked at all the students with a broad smile.
"Next up will be to award the House Cup, and the points earned are as follows. In fourth place, is Ravenclaw with 392 points. In third place, Hufflepuff with 395 points. In second place, Gryffindor with 425 points. And in the first place is the winner of the cup... Slytherin with 455 points!"
As Dumbledore finished speaking a storm of cheers and applause erupted from the Slytherin table. James could see how Rabastan and his gang were banging the table with their goblets. Not a pleasant sight to see.
'If only I hadn't lost the 30 points...' thought James regretting being punished so many times.
"Congratulations, Slytherin on winning yet another House Cup!" congratulated Dumbledore as a golden goblet appeared on the professors' table and he handed it to the Slytherin seventh-year annual prizes who wore proud smiles.
"Tsch how noisy," Sirius ranted as he began to eat amidst the Slytherin festivities.
The party, taking out the feasting and jeering from the Slytherin students, was fun. They had a good time and ate delicious food. It would have been an unforgettable night if they had won the house cup, but unfortunately, that was not the case.
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