Back To The Old House ♡ Marauders Story

chapter five year one- ordinary

Peter Pettigrew was a thoroughly ordinary boy. He knew this because he had been told it his whole life. To a muggle he'd be considered very interesting, but having not met many muggles, that didn't really matter to him. What matters to him is that his friends and family were special and he just...wasn't.

"Peter, hurry up!" James sped up to catch the other two boys. James never made him feel boring. He always insisted that Peter was special in his own way, but honestly Peter didn't believe him. If he was so special why did the sorting hat not have a place for him? It was one thing to have too many house options, but to have barely any special traits was just about the most embarrassing thing ever.

They arrived at their first class: Potions with the Slytherins. The professor was middle aged but his expressions made him seem older. His bushy eyebrows seemed to be constantly moving and he laughed at his own jokes for far too long.

"Now for our first lesson, I wanted to go over some of the basic ingredients you will be using this year. This here is a beetle eye," he walked over to a small table and pointed to the tiny black sphere sitting there, "Does anyone know what this is?" He pointed to silky hair which Peter recognized immediately. James' hand shot up at the same time as the boy, Severus, from the train. The professor, Slughorn, looked to James.

James wasted no time in supplying an answer. "Asian dragon hair. It's used in Sleekeazy's Hair Potion."

"Well done, boy!"

"My dad invented the potion," James flaunted, "Fleamont Potter?"

Slughorn's eyes widened. "Why yes, I've certainly met your father, do give him my best!" James smiled and Severus scowled.

Slughorn went on to explain more ingredients and tell stories of the best potions he's made and people he's met. The first day and Peter already felt behind, with everyone else making impressions and getting answers right, asking questions. The ginger girl, Lily, seemed way more interested in these stories than her friends who had bored written all over their faces. The only person quieter than him was Sirius, who seemed to be trying to fall asleep. Every few minutes, James would kick him, causing the sleeping lad to start with a gasp and James to quietly laugh.

The next class was charms, with Professor Flitwick. Flitwick was very short and had a high-pitched voice. Peter liked him, but the class went by quickly with their homework being to read the first chapter of their textbook.

After that was a short break. The four Gryffindor boys mostly predicted which classes would be fun and which would be boring. The only one looking forward to History of Magic was Remus, that was until the others told him about the ghost who taught it. Apparently he was so boring that nobody had raised their hand in his class since he had been alive, and nobody even knew how long ago that was.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was next. This was by far the class the first years were most excited for. It took place in a large classroom and was taught by a very elongated wizard with more neck than hair despite being fairly young.

"Hello students, I am Professor Bletchley, your instructor on defending yourself against the darkest of magic. A little about myself, I specialize in creating and playing with all sorts of spells, which I hope to teach you when you're a little older. However, these can go wrong," he gestures to his own hair, "so we will not be dabbling in that this year." Peter paid close attention along with the others. Everyone else seemed very interested by the displays of spells he'd created and the stories he told, listening eagerly until they began on the real work, but something about the professor made it impossible for Peter to like him. But he pretended to, clapping along with the others at the display of playing cards coming alive and square dancing.

♡♡♡

The great hall was less decadent than their first night or even that morning, but still very filling. Peter found himself struggling to decide which of the delicious-looking meals to eat.

"So, what're your favorite classes so far? Mine's probably Defense Against the Dark Arts," James asked while taking a large bite of his sandwich.

"Same, the professor may need some of your dad's hair stuff though," Sirius chuckled.

Remus thought for a moment. "I'd probably say the same, that or Potions. What about you, Peter?"

Peter thought for more than a moment. He hadn't really liked any of the professors at all, and dreaded the difficult work that was sure to come. "I dunno. Probably Charms. I don't really like any of the professors yet though."

James laughed. "You don't like any adults, Pete. Name one that you actually like other than your parents or mine." Peter couldn't. "Exactly."

That didn't feel true, but the more he thought about it the more he realized: the only thing he has felt all day towards authority is fear and anxiety. The other boys continued conversing but Peter stayed quiet. Nobody seemed to notice.

♡♡♡

The first few days went by quickly, and by Thursday they had met all their teachers and started the real course material. James excelled at Flying, unsurprisingly. Peter didn't do very well, but he did better than Remus who was very pale and didn't even attempt to fly.

The class the first years were in was Transfiguration. The teacher, McGonagall had begun the first class by transforming herself from a cat to a human and looking around surveying the students. Now, she was instructing them on how to turn objects into rabbits.

"This is one of the simpler spells, but I don't want you using it on anything but the objects I give you, especially nothing alive. Unless you want your owl to sprout bunny ears which I assure you is not a pretty site." Sirius raised his hand. "Yes Mr. Black?"

"What about dead things, ma'am? I know there's a few corpses that would be vastly improved by a tail and some ears." The class laughed, McGonagall did not.

"Very amusing, Mr. Black. But no, though if you would like I can turn you into one for the rest of term. How does that sound?" Sirius didn't say anything. "Excellent, now if you change your mind I'd be more than happy to. Now, back to the lesson, when you're ready, tap your wand on the object and say: Lapifors."

"Lapifors," Peter recited, but nothing happened. "Lapifors. Lapifors. Lapi-" at this his object, a small empty chest, turned into a rabbit. Well, rabbit isn't the best word, it looked almost like a rat, but still more or less a rabbit. He looked up and the professor gave him a little smile. He'd done a spell right. Looking around, he noticed only a few people--Lily, James, and a ravenclaw Peter didn't recognize--had completed the spell correctly. He looked up at McGonagall and smiled back. Maybe he was more special than he thought.

A/N
Thanks for reading! Year one is a bit longer than the other years will likely be because it includes meeting new people, sorting, all that. But I hope you're enjoying so far, the next up is Remus in a very special chapter ;)

-Meg/Thessie