Magic Gone Wrong
The Hogwarts Express rattled and swayed on its tracks. The Scottish landscape flashed past its windows, wild and sere. James Potter, leading his friends up the corridor, beamed around, enjoying the ambience. He always loved the school train.
Up ahead, he spotted some second-year Hufflepuffs gathered around a compartment door. Stealthily, he eased his wand out from his robes and aimed. Levicorpus! he recited in his mind.
One of the Hufflepuffs swung into the air, robes flopping over, suspended upside down by James’s hex. The hexed boy screamed and one of his friends shouted, “Potter!” James gave a jaunty wave, running past the Hufflepuffs up the corridor.
Behind James, both Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew laughed, but he could feel the weight of Remus Lupin’s disapproving stare. James gave an elaborate sigh and turned to face his friend. “It was just a joke, Moony!”
“They’re second years.” Remus’s scarred face was stern.
“It didn’t hurt him…”
Remus continued to glare. James sighed again and took out his wand and cast the nonverbal counter-spell. Liberacorpus! The Hufflepuff boy fell to the floor with a crash.
“You’re such an old stick, Moony,” Sirius complained, pouting in a very elegant, good-looking way. “James was just having a laugh!”
“I didn’t see those Hufflepuffs laughing.”
“They will be later,” said Peter confidently. “James’s jokes are always funny.” He gave James a glance of utter hero-worship.
James beamed back. “Thanks, Pete. At least I can count on one of my friends.” He patted Peter on the shoulder.
“You can always count on me,” smiled Peter.
“Oh, Merlin’s beard,” Sirius moaned. “Can we move on to something else before Pete here makes me sick?”
Peter reddened, but James laughed and even Remus smiled. “Okay, let’s keep going.”
They continued up the train corridor, peering into compartments and hailing friends and acquaintances. It would not be long now before they arrived at Hogwarts. James couldn’t wait. He was entering fifth year, which was said to be the hardest, but still he had high hopes. He and his friends had been working on becoming Animagi for months now, and James felt they were at last closing in on their goal. Sometime this year…
Up ahead, Sirius peered into the final compartment of the carriage and went very still, like a hound scenting prey. “Ah,” he said softly. “Look who it is.”
The other Marauders crowded around. There, in the corner of the compartment, a skinny, hook-nosed boy with greasy black hair sat absorbed in a huge doorstopper of a book. He was concentrating hard, unaware of his surroundings—and he was alone.
“Excellent.” James felt a feral smile unfurl on his face. “Snivellus.”
Remus shifted around. “Lads, I don’t think—” But James and Sirius were already slipping into the compartment, followed closely by Peter.
Still the boy did not seem to notice them. He turned an onion-thin page and kept reading.
“BOO!” James thrust his face into that of Severus Snape’s. He yelled and jerked back, and the book slithered to the floor.
“Hiya, Snivellus,” grinned James. “Whatcha reading?”
“Give it back—” Severus dived for his book, but Sirius was faster. He swooped down and scooped it up.
“A Magical Historiography?” He read the front title, sneering. “You read magical history books on the train, Snivellus?”
“Well, we all know he likes sucking up to Professor Binns,” said James viciously. “He’s the only teacher who can stand him. Probably because he’s already dead.”
Sirius and Peter both laughed. Face darkened with rage, Severus made another grab for the book. Sirius held it out of his reach, tauntingly. “What you want your book back so badly for, Snivelly? Well, I guess it makes sense: you haven’t got any friends, have you? Except Evans, and she’s only your friend out of pity.”
At this, Severus’s eyes flashed with a white-hot light and he went for his wand. James aimed his own wand. “Expelliarmus!”
Severus’s wand went shooting out of his hand to ricochet off the compartment ceiling and fall on the seat near Peter. Severus dived for his wand, but Peter grabbed it first, handing it over to James.
“Thanks, Pete.” James twirled Severus’s wand between his fingers. “Do you think old Snivelly’s wand is any good? Or has it shriveled up from being used by a slimy little loser who can’t shampoo his own hair?”
“That’s my wand!” Severus grabbed for his wand, but James held it over his head, twitching it at Severus and laughing at the other boy’s attempts to jump up and seize it.
Over in the doorway, Remus tried again. “Lads, maybe we should stop—”
“Ooh—check this out!” Sirius had withdrawn a sheet of parchment from Severus’s book. “Just what’ve you been up to, Snivellus?” he asked, surveying the lines of close-written text and alchemical symbols. “Trying to invent brand-new potions? I guess that is the only way you’ll get Evans to notice you.”
James froze, wand still in his hand. “Evans is not going to notice this little Death Eater wannabe!”
“What, are you worried, Potter?” Severus sneered, making another leap for his wand. “Lily thinks you’re an arse, you know!”
Rage flashed through James, and he aimed Severus’s own wand at him. But then Severus lashed out, landing a kick on James’s shin. “Ow!” James buckled forward, pain lancing through him.
Severus smirked, but didn’t have long to savor his triumph. Sirius and Peter both yelled in indignation and lunged to pin him down.
They didn’t grab him that hard, but Severus still gasped, going white with sudden agony. James wondered briefly what the little git’s problem was, but was too caught up in the excitement to ponder for long. He aimed Severus’s wand at the struggling boy, caught between Sirius and Peter, jerking uselessly, still giving odd little gasps of pain, face twisted with fear and loathing.
The sight gave James a momentary pinch of guilt. But only a pinch. “Now, Snivellus, I’ve been thinking of using a new spell, but haven’t had anyone to test it on.” James’s grin grew wider at the flash of fear and apprehension on Severus’s face. “Let’s see if it works.”
James began to recite the incantation.
Severus’s foot lashed out, caught the parchment fallen from his book. It fluttered up into the air, between him and James, just as James’s spell ignited.
The spell hit the parchment, inked all over with magical symbols.
Ripples of fire vibrated out. Everyone ducked, covering their heads and crying out. For a moment, time and space slipped and slid, the compartment not quite in sync with the rest of the universe.
When the survivors looked up, panting and pale-faced, there were only three boys still in the compartment.
James and Severus were gone.