Indeed. He and Regulus had been to blame for the ice that was spreading down the fifth-floor corridor.
In the evening of that same day, James took his invisibility cloak and went to the corridor that was thirty percent frozen. The temperature was extremely low. Just looking at the ice sent shivers down your spine.
It wasn't the same cold James felt when he entered the vault. It was worse. If it had been the same cold both he and Regulus would have died while fighting the knights.
To a person unaware of the vault they would think that the ice appeared out of nowhere in the corridor. The apparition made no sense and appeared in a random place in the castle.
The corridor was normal like any other. Even simpler, as there was no decoration such as armor or paintings. It was empty. And now it was with a frozen part.
But James knew that one of the brick walls was fake, and behind it were stairs leading up to the entrance of the ice vault. However, it was very difficult for anyone to find the entrance. Why would he throw Revelius at a random wall?
James on his nightly visit to the corridor noticed that Filch and a professor he didn't recognize were standing guard away from the ice. The school had taken student safety very seriously. There was always a professor guarding the corridor.
James was unseen thanks to his cloak and was able to approach with extreme care a part of the floor that was just beginning to freeze.
He bent down slowly and touched the ice with the pad of his index finger. As soon as he touched it he felt a shiver run through his body. He quickly withdrew his finger. He noticed a thin layer of frost on his index finger.
He had already felt that sensation. When he touched the ice necklace. One of the objects in the treasure chest.
'The ice is much stronger than the one in the vault and looks a lot like the one on the necklace...' thought James.
The only thought that came to his mind was that when the vault door was opened a curse similar to that of the ice necklace was released. A cursed ice is much more powerful than normal, and that freezes you just by touching it. Moreover, it spreads slowly.
Will Hogwarts be completely frozen, turned into an ice castle? And this will all be his fault. He doesn't want this to happen. He must find a solution.
'I must go back to the vault and use the key that was in the chest. There must be a door somewhere,' James thought. It was the only thing he had.
However, there was a problem. If the ice got outside the corridor it means that the hidden stairs, the entrance to the vault, and the vault itself will be frozen with this cursed ice.
The moment his foot steps on the ice, he will be frozen in a matter of minutes as it happened to Allan.
'Maybe in the book, I find useful information about the cursed ice...' thought James. He was to read the book he got from the chest. It was a long book with hundreds of pages almost reaching a thousand. He had only skimmed through it a little.
With that thought in mind, James returned to the Gryffindor common room. He was immediately set about reading the book and looking for the information he needed.
In normal cases, when he studies and practices at night he heads to the room of requirement, but right now, he finds Sirius and the others doing the business of the school paper.
If he pulls out the book which is very striking with its bright light blue color and nearly a thousand pages, they will ask him about the strange book. He doesn't feel like creating an excuse and lying to them.
In his bedroom, he started reading. The book had no index, so he had to read page by page. He flipped through them quickly looking for information about the cursed ice.
...
Thursday, March 1, 1973.
A couple of days had passed since James began reading the book in search of information so that he could return to the vault and not be frozen in the process.
Classes continued as normal. Dumbledore made no announcements about the corridor and the cursed ice. It was still forbidden to go there. Many students overcome by their curiosity wanted to sneak out and were caught. They were punished severely and lost house points.
James went back each day to look at the corridor and noticed that the ice was advancing at a rapid pace. If it continued at this rate in a week or so it would encompass the entire corridor.
Also, Sirius' school newspaper released its best-selling edition. The front page read: [Cursed Ice Attacks Hogwarts!]
Xeno knew how to put flashy, eye-catching titles. Each paper was sold for six Sickle. Very expensive compared to the Prophet which is sold for 1 Knut.
Just by selling three copies they already made a galleon's profit. And this new issue about the cursed ice already made a profit of about 50 gallons in just a couple of days.
The profit was divided among five: Sirius, Peter, Toby, Lupin, and Xeno who received less, since he was an employee. So, if Sirius wanted to buy the new Nimbus, he had to sell more and work hard.
James didn't get a share of the profits, because he didn't do anything. He was engrossed in his business. Besides, the last thing he needed was to earn a couple of Galleons. He supposed this was why Sirius and the others were upset with him.
He was going to try to pay more attention in his free time like before, but just then the subject of the Cursed Ice came up.
At breakfast today James received a letter from Regulus summoning him to meet in classroom 11 on the second floor in the evening. It seems he can no longer ignore the matter of the vault. He would most likely feel guilty.
Before their meeting, James made his way to the fifth-floor corridor. A professor was as usual standing guard. This time it was Eustace. Most likely the only professor who knows what is going on and one of the culprits, albeit indirectly.
'You bald bastard. Look what you caused,' James cursed, looking at Professor Eustace.
The items he got weren't even much of a treasure to James. They weren't worth it if you released a curse that would freeze all of Hogwarts. The only thing that was worth it was his fight to the death against the ice knights. He was able to gain experience and put his spells into practice.
Noticing that the cursed ice was maintaining its speed, he decided to leave. As he turned right he noticed the silhouette of a person who was crouching and walking very carefully. Using the armor to hide. To James, the silhouette looked familiar.
This person seemed to be heading for the corridor where the cursed ice was. A very bad idea. Unless you know how to use a disillusioning spell, since in that corridor there is no armor you can use to hide behind.
Out of curiosity and familiarity, James decided to approach and take a closer look at the student who wanted to be punished for gossiping about something wrong.
His hunch was right. It was Gwen, 'What is she doing here?' thought James worriedly. He couldn't let Professor Eustace catch her, and he didn't like the idea of Gwen approaching the dangerous ice either.
"Hey, Gwen. It's me, James," whispered James, after canceling the Silencio Barriera.
Gwen turned quickly with a frightened expression. What scared her the most was that when she turned around, she saw no one. Out of fright, she hit the armor's leg which caused a loud noise in the silence.
Footsteps sounded nearby. Most likely, it was Eustace who heard the noise and was heading this way.
'Shit. I forgot about the invisibility cloak,' thought James. Hearing the approaching footsteps, he had no choice but to cover Gwen with his invisibility cloak. Because of the close distance, he had no choice but to hug her strangely.
"Shh, it's me. We'll be fine, just be quiet," whispered James, very close to Gwen as he held still.
Gwen could hear her heart beating a mile a minute for many reasons. First, because she was scared to death and then because James was hugging her and holding him very close to her. It all happened so fast.
She decided to be quiet and keep still, as she heard the footsteps coming this way. She had doubts as to how they would not be seen, but she trusted James.
"Damn sneaky brats," muttered Eustace looking at the armor. There was no one in sight now. He had no plans to chase after some brats with quick feet. After watching for a few seconds he returned to his patrol.
"Phew... That was close," whispered James releasing his breath.
"Do you want to kill me with a heart attack, you idiot?" whispered Gwen, tapping James' chest.
"Wait a minute," whispered James as he cast a Silencio Barriera.
"Done. You can complain all you want," added James, speaking in a normal tone and moving a little away from Gwen.
"Is this an invisibility cloak?" asked Gwen, looking at the cloth covering it.
"Oh, you guessed quickly. Yes it is," replied James.
"So, with this cloak, you managed to get into the Slytherin common room and bombard it with stink bombs," Gwen said, looking judgingly at James.
"Ejem... I'm not proud of that prank. Sorry," said James, embarrassed. Planning it was fun, and at the bombing, he also had a good time with Sirius and Lupin, but when he saw the consequences he realized he had done something wrong.
Luckily, Gwen and Emily were not in the bombing and were spared the putrid smell. Otherwise, he would have had to have done a thousand favors for Gwen to forgive him or so he thinks.
"You've apologized enough. I already forgave you. I was just surprised that you own an invisibility cloak," Gwen said in a softer tone. She liked that James knew how to own up to his mistakes. It showed that he was more mature than the others.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she added, going back on the attack.
"For what? You want to join the marauders and prank together?" asked James with a smirk.
"Mm... If it's just you and me yes. We'd make a good team. Don't you think?" asked Gwen with a slight smile.
"I'm sure we would. Although I have a feeling your jokes would be pretty heavy," said James.
"What do you take me for? I'd just make fun, of harmless pranks. Maybe my targets would be some muggle-borns... I'm just kidding. Look at the look on your face when I talk about muggle-borns," said Gwen with a smile.
"Did you notice? I called them muggle-born. Not mudbloods. You should commend my efforts," added Gwen with a proud smile for some reason.
"I'm very grateful for all the effort you've put into that subject," said James in a serious manner. He knew that for a girl like Gwen, who was raised in a supremacist environment since she was a little girl, it would be difficult to change her ideals, but she was making a great effort.
Perhaps her dear sister being a half-breed helped.
"Why are you getting so serious all of a sudden? It's no big deal," Gwen said more sheepishly averting her eyes from James' serious face. If it was for James she would do anything he asked.
"Don't minimize your effort. It must be hard for you, and you're only doing it because I asked you to," said James, feeling a little guilty. For a person who grew up with strong ideals, it would be hard to change them completely and more so at the request of a third party.
"I do it because I want to. Putting that aside, What are you doing here?" asked Gwen, realizing the situation they were in. They couldn't stay talking about trivial matters, though she always enjoyed talking to James.
"I came to watch the ice. To see if it's still progressing or not. It seems that the professors didn't find any solution these days," James replied regretfully. If Dumbledore or any professor solved the problem, he wouldn't have to spend his time on this.
As for telling them about the ice vault, he won't do it. He doesn't want to be expelled or have even the slightest chance of being expelled. Besides, he will have to return the treasures which, although they don't seem like a big deal to him is better than having nothing.
"What about you?" asked James.
"Same thing," Gwen replied.
"It's dangerous. What would you do if you got caught? You don't have an invisibility cloak. Besides, cursed ice is very dangerous," said James worriedly.
"I don't care. I have to find a solution to stop that ice from advancing," said Gwen, determinedly.
'What?" thought James in surprise. This was more dangerous than just coming to gossip a bit.
"Why would you do that? Leave it to Dumbledore and the professors. It's dangerous to touch that ice," said James in a serious tone.
"Didn't you hear the rumors?" asked Gwen.
"No. What rumors?" replied James in confusion.
"There are rumors that if they don't find a solution soon for the Cursed Ice, Hogwarts will be temporarily closed. Already all the parents are aware of the situation, and they don't like their children being in a dangerous place," said Gwen with a frown.
"What? Hogwarts will be closed?" said James in surprise. Maybe he should pay more attention to the rumors from now on.