Priori Incantatem [HARRY POTTER FANFICTION]

Chapter 41: Goodbye to Hogwarts

Chapter 41: Goodbye to Hogwarts

The seventh year students made their way to breakfast the next morning with considerably more cheer and volume than they had for weeks. NEWTs were officially over, and they still had a week of school where absolutely nothing was required of them. The rest of the student body wasn't quite so lucky; final exams were still in progress, and a good many cast dour looks at the exuberant seventh years.

The Gryffindor table was the loudest in the hall as the Gryffindor seventh years argued spiritedly over whether they ought to spend the day lounging by the lake or lounging in the common room. The arrival of the post scarcely put a dent in the proceedings, not even when owls delivered letters to Frank, Sirius, and Kathleen. Sirius accepted his letter from a black owl absentmindedly and carried on arguing with Remus and Peter about the merits of lake versus common room. However, when Sirius flipped the letter over and saw its seal, he abruptly ceased his efforts to upend the butter dish over Remus' head. Instead, he dropped said dish, which landed with a splat in Morwenna's lap, and began opening his letter with the air of someone forced to touch a man-eating tiger. The others waited patiently, with the exception of Morwenna, who glared at Sirius menacingly as she attempted to Scourgify the butter from her lap.

"So who's the letter from?" James ventured finally as Sirius set down his post.

"My family's solicitor," Sirius replied tonelessly. "My Uncle Alphard's died and left me all his money."

This was met with silence, as the others exchanged glances and shifted uncomfortably, not quite sure what to say.

"I'm sorry to hear about your uncle, Sirius," Lily said finally. "Were you very close?"

"Hadn't seen him in years," Sirius answered absently, scanning the letter once more. "He was disowned, y'know - like me. I s'pose that's why he left the money to me." James, Remus, and Peter looked at each other uncertainly; they'd never known Sirius to talk about his family in public before.

"What're you going to do with the money, Sirius?" Peter blurted after a few minutes of very uncomfortable silence.

"Dunno," Sirius mused. "I hadn't given it much thought." The Gryffindors then settled into a discussion of all of the things Sirius could do with his money. Soon they were all thoroughly immersed in this conversation with the exception of Lily, who couldn't help but to notice the particularly vicious glares coming their way from the Slytherin table. From Bellatrix, Rosier, Wilkes, and Rabastan Lestrange, to be specific. Uncomfortable, Lily nudged Dorcas on her left and Alice on her right, then nodded meaningfully toward the Slytherins to make her point. Alice nudged Kathleen and Dorcas kicked Morwenna under the table to spread the message, but through a serious of shrugs, all managed to convey that they had no idea why the Slytherins seemed more hostile than usual.

However, in spite of their determination to disregard it, the constant staring and whispers from the Slytherin table grew difficult to ignore. The Gryffindor wizards carried on with their conversation, oblivious to the fact that the witches were a bit quiet.

Alice finally snapped near the end of breakfast when Rosier and Wilkes, no longer content to glare, began mouthing insults. When Wilkes mouthed "Mudblood" to Lily, Alice, feeling thoroughly goaded, made an extremely rude gesture in retaliation, causing Morwenna to gasp and Dorcas and Kathleen to giggle. Noticing this disturbance, the boys glanced round to see Lily looking a bit strained, Morwenna wearing an expression of amused shock, Dorcas and Kathleen recovering from their respective giggling fits, and Alice blushing profusely, a satisfied expression on her face.

Interest piqued, James, Remus, Sirius, Peter, and Frank waited to be enlightened, but to no avail. Knowing the Marauders' taste for trouble, often-misplaced gallantry, and impetuousness, not to mention their long and distinguished history with the Slytherins, the girls elected to keep quiet rather than be responsible for starting a group duel or food fight.