Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 126: Spring Break
"Over here, this one is empty," James told his friends before he opened the door of the train compartment.
Remus and Peter hurried towards him and went inside.
James had already stored his suitcase and was comfortably seated.
"Huff…" Peter looked exhausted. "Why do we always get late? This time, we almost can't find an empty compartment…"
"Blame Sirius, he had us awake all night, talking and joking. There was no way we were going to wake up in time," Remus said.
"Well, can't blame him. He is going to spend the break alone in Hogwarts," Peter said.
Remus tried to push away his tiredness by rubbing his eyes. "It's only going to be a week and a half…" His expression changed all of a sudden.
"That's right, I have to stay at home until the end of the month this time." A sense of panic invaded him. He had been too careless as of late and forgot about his condition.
"Stop stressing yourself," James told him, sensing his distress. He pulled something from his robes and offered it to Remus. "Here."
"You remembered to make it." Remus felt tremendous relief when he saw the potion in James's hands. He quickly took it and stored it away, afraid that someone could come into their cabin and see it.
"Thank you so much."
James brushed it off. "No need."
A moment later, the door opened up. Frank, Alice, and Lily were standing before the entrance.
"See? I told you they were going to be in the last one," Frank told the girls.
"Can we sit here? Everywhere else is very cramped," Lily asked while trying not to stare at James.
"I think almost everyone is coming back home for the break. That's very unusual, isn't it?" Alice commented as she took a seat next to Remus.
Peter made room for Lily so she could sit between him and James while Frank went to his girlfriend's side.
"Now that you mention it…it is rare, yes," Remus said.
Usually, less than half the students would come back for spring break. It is the shortest break, after all, and most prefer to save themselves the hassle and just stay in school.
Hogwarts can be a very nice place to be once you are no longer forced to attend classes or do homework.
"I think it's because the mood in the school has changed," Frank said.
This piqued James's attention. His amber eyes moved to Frank. "What do you mean by 'mood'?"
"I think I know what he means…" Lily said. "It's hard to explain, but it's like… you know, it's like the environment has gotten more oppressive as of late. Everyone can feel some sort of tension in the air."
Alice pointed at her. "Exactly! I know exactly what you mean. I can never concentrate on studying because of that."
"Come on Alice… that had always been an issue to be fair," Frank commented. "But what Lily said is correct. It is hard to explain, but the mood in the school has been… 'heavy,' for lack of a better word. It's like everyone is waiting for something bad to happen. Students are more stressed than usual. It's not a surprise to see so many more people wanting to return home for the break."
"I see." James hadn't noticed anything of the sort. But that may be because he didn't have the mentality of a normal fifteen-year-old boy and was more used to tense situations.
He moved his gaze towards the window and stared at the peaceful landscape.
'If there is tension in the school… there can only be one reason for it.' The arrival of a new Dark Lord always brings change.
Voldemort may have been the first Dark Lord he met. Unfortunately, he was not the last one.
During his journeys over the world, he discovered the existence of many others. Some of them were even worse than Voldemort, while others rose to power with good intentions, in order to oppose an oppressive government.
'I cannot worry about the rest of the world though. My focus is here.' He wasn't a selfless hero who would go out of his way to try to save everyone.
He had once been like that, and… that road always ends badly.
The years had turned him into a harsher, more pragmatic person. He would eliminate Voldemort just because he was in his way, and as James, had the tools and knowledge to do so.
His mind went over the things he had to do during this short break. There was much work to do and little time to complete everything he had planned.
"James?"
He heard Lily calling his name from his side.
"Yes?" James turned his head to look at her. There was concern in her green eyes, as well as something else.
"Ehm… nothing, it's just… you seem a bit distracted. Is something worrying you?" she asked while the rest of their friends pretended to have their own conversation.
"There are many things wrong in the world, but nothing that requires immediate concern. Did you read those books you got during our trip to Hogsmeade?" James asked her to move his mind away from the thought of what he had to do in the near future.
Lily's face seemed to brighten at the question. "I read two of them. I'm leaving the last one to read during the break. They are truly fascinating."
"Is that so?" He couldn't say he shared the same fascination with old ruins. Although he did find them useful. Many of them still contained powerful artifacts sealed inside their walls.
"Oh… that reminds me. What about…" She looked around to see if her friends were paying attention to them and then spoke in a soft whisper. "That book that you bought…" She wasn't sure if this was something that James wanted others to know.
After all, he had paid a lot of money for that thing.
"The book, right. I haven't had the chance to read it yet. Perhaps I will do so during this break." He didn't buy that book to entertain himself.
James only got it to serve as the key to the Tomb of Kilgharrah. A place that he planned on visiting soon, but that was going to be a dangerous journey, and before he could go there, he had some preparations to complete.
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