A Marauder’s Fallacy

“Not many people are aware that the Potters knew You-Know-Who was after them."

- Cornelius Fudge.

James was an active person. Always had been. He was not used to being cooped up in a small space, even if he did appreciate the present company.

His wife did manage the long-term confinement way better than him. Where his wife managed to distract herself somewhat from the ongoings outside their four walls, he simply lacked the patience.

Lily focused on Harry's care, the household and even invited their neighbor Bathilda Bagshot several times. According to Lily, the old lady was a veritable goldmine of information and had many interesting stories to share.

James loved his family dearly. He wouldn't exchange them for anything. That didn't change the fact, though, that he missed the world beyond Godric's Hollow. He missed the action. And most of all: he missed his friends.

The Marauders had drifted apart after they graduated Hogwarts, a fact which deeply saddened him. They knew things about each other that nobody else knew. The four of them had managed feats that -to his knowledge- no other group of students had achieved before.

The Animagus transformations, their unique map, all of the secrets in Hogwarts they discovered together, their roaming through the castle, exploring the forbidden forest and the brilliant pranks they executed … That kind of stuff progressed for over seven years with them graduating together and later on they'd attended his wedding… such a bond shouldn't be able to break easily.

Yet, he hadn't heard from Moony in months and Wormtail had visited only once. Padfoot was the last one truly left. Sirius was the only one who still visited them, if rarely. James knew that the Order was extremely busy these days, given that the members were hunted down in their own homes.

Still, he didn’t like that Moony was sent to sweet-talk the werewolves for months on end, Sirius got sent from one mission to the next and Wormy did who knows what while James had to stay at home, sitting on his hands. He felt utterly useless staying put, while his friends and former school mates were dying out there one after the other.

Deep inside, he knew he was being selfish. James was frustrated and when he didn't like how he was feeling he was sometimes quick to place the blame on the subject of his frustrations. Remus wasn't at fault for his absence. Moony didn't even want the werewolf mission in the first place because it meant that he had to spend a considerable amount of time away from civilized company.

He only took the missions because he owed Dumbledore and because he was literally the only one on their side who could do it. Thus, it wasn't fair to be disappointed or mad with Remus for the lack of contact.

James just couldn’t help how he felt about his current situation. He didn’t know what Wormtail’s excuse was and he couldn’t sneak out even if he wanted to.

Dumbledore had borrowed his invisibility cloak for the Order and if he got out disguised or disillusioned it wouldn't be worth it. Lily would catch on and strangle him as soon as he got back. Cooped up with tension between them was the last thing he needed.

Deciding that he needed to get his mind off of things for a while, else he'd contemplate doing something he'd regret later, he picked up a Muggle Magazine Moony had sent him ages ago.

Why? He didn't know.

Moony had called it a Comical or something along those lines. It contained printed pictures which weren't moving within their little frames. Most of the pictures had little bubbles with some added texts.

It reminded him a bit of children's picture books, but there had to be a reason that Moony had addressed it to him and not to Harry, right? The title ‘Asterix the Gaul’ didn’t give him any indication what the story might be about except maybe Muggle history.

He wouldn't be interested in that, though. His friend knew him better than to send him a history book of all things. Trying to infer the content from the foreign term, he hoped it'd turn out to be something lighthearted.

With his mind unable to focus on more demanding material he settled into one of the armchairs and began to flip through the pages.

The story actually managed to get a chuckle or two out of him; two muggle factions fighting over potions made by a druid. This played long before the Statute of Secrecy had been enforced.

The funny part, however, had been that the muggle warriors who were dependent on a Strengthening Solution, pranked their opponents twice.

First, they sent them chasing down ingredients they wouldn't actually need for the potion and then they slipped them the Manegro Potion instead of the Strengthening Solution which caused people's scalp hair and beards to grow out uncontrollably.

Moony had the right thought all these months ago. The book had indeed managed to calm his mind a little, if only for a moment. The simple use of potions by muggles also got him wondering, though.

The Marauders hadn't used potions very often for their pranks. There were classics like the Hair-Dyeing Potion, the Babbling Beverage or the Volubilis Potion, but the hair- and voice-changing potions were both beginner level brews and even the Babbling Beverage was taught before the OWLs.

Thinking back, James couldn't tell if the reason lay in their group's general preference for Charms and Transfiguration over Potions or if Snivellus had managed to sour the branch of magic for them somehow.

James's own biggest strengths, Quidditch and Transfiguration, would be useless for the preparation of protective measures. He had something else he could fall back on though; his creativity.

Flooded with fresh inspiration, James leafed through all their NEWT- and expert-level potions books. And ‘their books’ actually meant Lily’s books as he didn't know where his old books were stored and Lily kept her books systematically organised.

James silently thanked his wife, who was currently curled up in their bedroom upstairs, taking a well-earned nap with little Harry.

The Strengthening Solution that was used in the Story he just read had given him an idea. While potions couldn't ensure a win, if you found the right one, they could certainly give you an advantage.

In James's opinion that was exactly what they needed. An edge…an advantage…something to get a little bit of…luck… . His eyes widened at the last thought. That was it. Luck.

James jumped to his feet, heart racing with sudden excitement. He knew there was a luck potion. James remembered it from Sluggy's lesson in sixth year. What was the name again?

He wanted to ask Lily for the name of the potion to find it faster, but he couldn't wake her for this. Trying to remember, he thought back to the lesson.

He'd been too caught up by the smell of the Amortentia and the question of what it might smell like for Lily to pay much attention to the other three potions discussed in that particular lesson.

The only fact about the luck potion he remembered for certain was its golden hue. Suddenly wishing the potion books had more pictures, he settled into his armchair for a long afternoon of research.