I Solemnly Swear - a Fifth Marauder Story

Chapter 5: Occamys and Odd Encounters

James and Sirius were definitely up to something. All through potions they were muttering to each other, and as James threw ingredients together with such messy laziness that I was sure he was going to blow it up, whispering all the while, Sirius scribbled things on a piece of paper. I caught only snippets of their conversation.

"No, that's not any good..."

"Not there, Filch is always patrolling that corridor!"

"Can we get her timetable?"

"Remember it's the moon next week..."

That last comment confused me, not least because Remus, who had been quietly getting on with his potion, threw the two of them a warning glance. James grinned.

"Don't worry. Your furry little problem is safe with us."

Potions dragged by with unbearable slowness. At the end of the lesson I bolted from my seat and was out the door before anyone else in the class, hurrying to my next lesson almost at a run. I had care of magical creatures next.

I couldn't help but notice the nervous looks on some students' faces as we reached the area of the grounds that had been closed off by a wooden fence for the magical creatures classroom, and grinned to myself. My dad knew Professor Kettleburn very well; apparently he had quite the reputation here at Hogwarts, and people tended to describe him as reckless at best.

My kind of professor. I didn't take care of magical creatures just to study Flobberworms for a full term.

I caught up with Lily and Alice at the fence. Lexi was with them, and as I approached she turned her face away with a slight scowl. I didn't say anything but snuck a glance at her as the four of us trailed through the gate, noticing that she was determinedly not meeting my eyes. I sighed. Lexi had seemed so nice on the Hogwarts Express. Sirius just had to ruin everything.

Professor Kettleburn joined us then, carrying a large, covered cage in his one remaining arm. I strained to hear the soft crooning noise that was coming from inside, trying to figure out what the creature was.

"Today," announced the professor loudly, "we are going to be studying Occamys." There was a murmur of incomprehension from the gathered students, but I gave a tiny gasp.

"What? Do you know what it is?" Alice whispered, whilst Lily gave her a well duh look.

"Scamander, Alice!" she said. "Of course she knows what it is!"

"An Occamy is Ministry of Magic classified XXXX," I told Alice, ignoring Lily. "Fiercely territorial. Aggressive, especially nesting mothers. Can be up to fifteen feet in size, although that one looks rather small."

"XXXX? I'm pretty sure he's not allowed to bring those into school!" Alice gasped.

"I can think of much worse things that've been brought to school," Remus muttered darkly, right behind me, making me jump.

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously, but he just shook his head.

Kettleburn pulled the cover off of the cage, revealing a two-legged, scaly thing, with feathered wings and a plume on its head. It squawked loudly with its sharp beak, glaring at us with beady, black eyes.

"Isn't it beautiful?" I sighed. Lily pulled a face.

"Can anybody tell me," asked Kettleburn, "where the Occamy can be found?"

I looked around carefully. Nobody raised their hand, so tentatively, I put mine up.

"Yes, Miss...?"

"Scamander, sir," I said. "The Occamy is usually found in the Far East and India."

"Ah, Newt's girl! And yes, correct. Ten points to Gryffindor.