parents after all

chapter 9

Chapter 9 - The First Task

'Let's try this again,' said Lily tiredly. It's the third time the time travellers ran through the spell section already. 'There must be something.'

Peter looked defeated. 'The spells are either too complicated for a fourth-year or too weak to use on a dragon,' he sighed.

'Oh! What about –' Sirius jumped suddenly, attracting the attention of nearly all the users of the library. 'What about something simple, like- like – the Stunning Spell?'

'That's no use,' James shook his head. 'Dragons are too strong for a Stunning Spell to work effectively ... hello Harry,' he greeted at his son tentatively, who had just sprinted into the library and still panting heavily.

'Oh yes, James's right,' Harry nodded fervently as he threw James a wink.

James released a breath he didn't know he was holding. 'Anything good, Harry? You look like you're fit enough to smack Snivellus's balls.'

'Yeah, fine,' replied Harry ( 'Language, James Potter!' Lily hissed). 'I think I've found a way... just ran into Professor Moody, and he advised that I play to my strengths.'

'And that is...' Hermione eyed him uncertainly.

'Flying. I'm good at flying,' said Harry firmly. 'I need to master the Summoning Charm by tomorrow afternoon. I'll summon my broom to the stadium.'

James thumped on the table with a loud bang. 'That's a wicked idea! Should've pestered Moody instead of Flitwick and Sprout!'

'Then what are we waiting for?' exclaimed Sirius. 'Let's go and practise.'

'When?' asked Hermione warily.

'Now, of course,' Lily snorted, picking up her books and walking out the room with Ron and Hermione, shaking her head exasperatedly. 'It's Divination, aka the Marauders' free period.'

'Well, great,' Harry looked furtively between Lily and James, and when he saw James nod in approval, he brightened up immediately, sounding much firmer this time, 'excellent. Shall we use the empty classroom downstairs?'

'Count me in when the bell goes,' Lily's remark echoed in the hallway as she left for the North Tower.

Quills, books, chairs, desks and parchments were everywhere. Harry stood in the middle of the mess, wand in one hand and panting heavily.

'Ten galleons say he won't learn the charm,' Sirius bared his teeth in a very canine manner. As much as he hoped Harry would master the charm sooner, Harry's current progress had him crestfallen and bored. Just as he believed that there must be a way to cure Remus's lycanthropy, Sirius also thought that there must be another way to deal with the dragons aside from the Summoning Charm.

'How dare you! Fifty say he will!' exclaimed James indignantly. 'He will! Today! This second! Now!'

Sirius scoffed, 'You only say so because he's you and Lily's –'

'Will you stop betting on how stupid I am?' shouted Harry from across the pile of quills and parchments before him. He flicked his wand furiously, but only sparks came out and no charms performed. He had been practising for hours with the Marauders now, James and Sirius, as usual, had got the hang of it thirty minutes into the session. Remus curled up quietly aside, checking spell books. Peter learned the spell much slower than James and Sirius, though unlike Harry, who had so far been unsuccessful to summon anything, Peter had been able to summon quills and upturnchairs quite sloppily for a few times.