parents after all

chapter 11

Chapter 11 - Life is a Joke

Still absorbed in bits and flashes of the First Task, James rambled on all the way to the castle. Professor Moody nodded and barked a laugh from time to time, and James was amazed to see though limping, Moody was still very fast that James had to rush to keep up with him.

'...The Horntail finally decided that it's time to leave the egg and I was like "bingo!" so I – hey Professor!' James halted, pointing at the other way of the corridor, 'Hospital Wing's that way, not this way!'

'Come, Potter, we're going this way first,' Moody tilted his chin towards the end of the corridor he was heading, where a few classrooms, now empty, stood quietly in the slanting evening sunlight.

'...But Professor? My arm –'

'Surely your arm can wait, Potter,' Moody growled, 'but your son can't. Are you planning to do the Second Task for him as well?'

James felt his blood run cold. So Moody knew all along. If he knew, Dumbledore must know, so must Crouch and the rest of the judging panel. And Harry –how's Harry? It had not occurred to James before, but now it struck him like a strong wave, buffeting him into the sea of frustration and fear. How was he going to explain to Madam Pomfrey that Harry had his leg bones removed when the whole world saw Harry Potter up and alive fighting and defeating a Hungarian Horntail?

As if seeing through him, Moody said, 'Dumbledore might have suspected, but he can't prove anything, not when he didn't know what happened in the tent.' He rounded a corner and they arrived at a row of more obscure classrooms that James suspected no normal student would come. He however, knew it by heart; years of pranking and hiding from Filch taught him well about every single square feet of the castle.

Moody limped towards the very last classroom on the corridor. 'But I have the eye, and I saw everything in the tent,' he paused, pushing the door of the classroom open, 'and now I'm going to help you.'

James blinked in the darkness that enveloped the room. Dust danced in the air, chairs and desks jutted out from the supposedly neat rows, and curtains were drawn shut. Suddenly, a head appeared out of nowhere, hovering a few feet up a large platform made by several tables put together as a familiar voice shouted, 'James! Thank Merlin you're alive!'

'Sirius!' James sprinted to the tables, arms outstretched and pulling his friend in an embrace. 'You bastard! How dare you! I'll kill you –'

'Do that later, Potter,' Moody barked, 'now we have more important business to attend to.' He limped to the platform, pulling off the invisibility cloak off Sirius, and revealing a lying Harry with his rubbery legs piled neatly underneath him like a mattress.

'Er, I thought he'd be ... more comfortable this way,' Sirius ran his fingers through his hair. 'You know, sleeping on something soft rather than hard wooden desk.'

James and Harry glared. Then James remembered that he had a hand in it as well, so he coughed and looked away.

'Now,' Moody announced from behind, before him two goblets sat on the desk, dark, mud-like substance bubbling slowly inside. 'Black, pluck a hair from him,' he indicated Harry, then turned to James, 'and one from you as well.'

'Polyjuice potion,' breathed James as the hairs were added separately to the two goblets. The one with Harry's hair turned a brilliant shade of gold, while the other with James's hair turned red-gold with glitters.

The two goblets were handed to the Potters. 'The potion will transform you into one another, but your injuries will remain,' Moody looked sideways to James's arm and Harry's legs. 'Both of you shall go to Pomfrey. Harry, just say that you broke into a fight or something.' He took out a bottle and thrusted it into Harry's hand, 'you should have enough Polyjuice potion here for one night. Have a sip every hour and go back to your dorm as soon as you can tomorrow.