The days after the quidditch date went by for James very slowly. Because of all the tasks he had, although he was very capable and had a great intellect, many tasks made him lazy, as in this life, he was not forced to be perfect and developed a more relaxed character.
On the other hand, after witnessing the two quidditch matches his desire to play increased noticeably. James had dreamed every day what the match would have been like if he had been on the pitch.
Training with the team was just that: training. It couldn't compare to a real game against another house.
'I want to play a real match...' thought James as he thought of some way, but he knew it was impossible.
McGonagall had done enough by making it possible for him to have his broom and train with the team. Besides, if he could play, he would be a substitute, as William would choose Alex, a more experienced and more established seeker.
"Where are you going? Class is here," Lupin said, stopping James by the shoulder.
"You've been very distracted lately," Sirius commented as James grimaced.
"There's nothing wrong with me. Come on," James said as he walked into the classroom. Having so much quidditch practice and not being able to put it into practice in an actual match was not a nice feeling, and he would have to be like this until next year.
Today, they had a Defense Against the Dark Arts class. The marauders sat in the back of the classroom. A few minutes later, the teacher arrived and the room fell silent. Professor Antennae had a very strict and stern personality, similar to Professor McGonagall, her presence alone was enough to make the room silent.
The most striking thing was that Professor Antennae this time brought a cage, or so it seemed, since it was covered by a black mantle. No one dared to ask her what it was about.
"Let's call the list before we begin," she said as she took out a parchment and started with the list. After a few minutes, she put the parchment down on her desk and looked back at the class.
"In the previous class, we were looking at the Flipendo hex theory. Today we will practice it," she began and saw someone raise their hand.
"Lily Evans," she added, giving her permission to speak and looking at the red-haired girl.
"How will we practice it?" asked Lily. She knew from the books and the lesson that the Flipendo hex could be felt as a blow to the chest and knocked the target down, so it was a painful thing and couldn't be practiced on other classmates as they would get hurt. Like the time James sent Mulciber and Avery flying and knocked them unconscious.
Antennae smiled slightly, waiting for that question, "We'll practice with this," she said as she pulled the black mantle off and uncovered the cage and what was inside.
In the cage, several small-sized creatures could be seen. Each creature was between six to fifteen centimeters tall, their skin was gray, and their eyes were yellowish. The creatures upon seeing the light began to huddle together and want to break the cages while having a slapstick grin on their faces.
"Who can tell me which creature this is?" asked the professor seeing the curious looks on the faces of all the students who began to get excited, as they would finally have the long-awaited practical class.
Lily immediately raised her hand. Many more did as they knew what creature it was.
"Jasmine Meadowes," said Antennae, looking at a girl with long straight brown hair and hazel eyes.
"They are imps. They are found in Britain and Ireland. They say they entertain themselves a lot by playing pranks and tormenting people they come across," replied Jasmine.
"Correct. Imps live in wet or boggy areas, eat insects, and are not a threat. They can be repelled quite easily by anyone. Usually using the Flipendo hex to stun it and then throw it into a cage or bottomless pit," explained Professor Antennae.
"Now... I will call the first five people on the list and release the imp. They must use Flipendo to send them back into the cage. The others will watch and wait their turn," continued Antennae. If she brought imps for everyone, the classroom would be in chaos, and it would be very difficult to control the imps if they escaped.
In the classroom, there were numerous cries of "Flipendo!" most of them were having a hard time since so far they only saw the theoretical part of the evil spell and had little or almost no practice.
If the students failed and the imps headed their way with mocking smiles, the teacher would stop them at the last minute, always keeping them under control.
That was not the case for the marauders. James had taken it upon himself to teach them the hex long before, and they practiced it in an unorthodox way, as they used themselves as test subjects in unofficial duels.
The excuse they gave Slughorn that Sirius sent Lupin flying was not so far off the mark. The other students saw this logically, as they all knew of James' prowess with this hex, and it was very safe for him to teach it to his group of friends.
So all five of them, even Toby, who learned the spell with less time, showed a very good performance. James managed to send five devils to the cage, which earned him a commendation from Antennae and 15 points for Gryffindor.
He was the first first-year student to earn points for his house from Professor Antennae and a commendation.
...
One day in early December, James was eating breakfast in the large dining room when the owl mail arrived. An owl flew towards him, but it was not Shadow.
It was a medium-sized, white owl. In its mouth was a newspaper and it had a bag tied to its leg. James looked at the owl and knew it was the newspaper: The Prophet. He placed 1 Knut in the bag, and the owl dropped the newspaper and resumed its flight. James was a subscriber to the paper, unlike other students who were not.
He picked up the paper, and as he read the front page headline he frowned. The news read as follows:
[Alarming Increase in Attacks on Muggles by a group calling themselves the Death Eaters!]
In a dark and disturbing twist, a previously unknown group called "The Death Eaters" has emerged from the shadows, spreading chaos and fear among Muggles. From research, this is the same group that attacked at the Quidditch World Cup final, murdering and tormenting a Muggle family. However, this was not the end, reports of attacks on non-magical people are slowly increasing, creating an atmosphere of apprehension in the magical community.
Their attacks are at night and very difficult to detect. The only one that wasn't was the one at the Quidditch World Cup. Every time they finish with their attack they send a kind of dark mark into the sky, a bright green skull with a snake protruding from its mouth, so if you see this mark in the sky you should be very careful.
The Ministry of Magic authorities have issued warnings and have intensified security in areas with the highest incidence of attacks, but the question on everyone's lips is: who is behind these acts of ruthless violence against Muggles?
The magical community is called to be on high alert and take extra precautions as the Ministry of Magic works tirelessly to identify and apprehend those responsible. Citizens are urged to report any suspicious activity and to remain vigilant, at this time no wizards have been fatally attacked, but anything can happen, so please be careful and do not act recklessly.
The Prophet will continue to provide detailed and updated coverage as more information comes to light.
Stay alert and stay safe!"]
'Shit...' thought James with an ugly expression.
"What happened?" asked Lupin, noticing the strange expression on his friend's face who just passed him the newspaper to read. Sirius curious about this walked over to Lupin and read along with him the news. Both of their expressions were getting uglier the more they read.
"Those lunatics again," Sirius said, and Toby, who was paying attention to his breakfast looked up in confusion, so Sirius passed him the paper.
Toby's face was the worst of all, a great fear came over him as he read this news, "T-they'll catch them right...?" he asked, referring to the Ministry of Magic who according to the news were already on the job.
"Of course, they must be a small sect or something like that. It's only a matter of time before they catch them," said Sirius, who had already heard stories of these people calling themselves the Death Eaters.
James knew this wasn't true, that this was something much bigger, to the point that it would provoke a war.
'Still no Voldemort sighting...' thought James. It was time to resume training. He had spent several months slacking off, though it wasn't entirely so as he had classes and a lot of homework.
The problem in James' mind was how to practice and improve his magic. There was no training room like the one his father had built at home. Practicing spells in some empty classroom would be too dangerous, and he could lose points or be punished if he destroyed something or Filch caught him.
'I must visit the library first. It's time to read some new books,' James thought.