Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

Harry took a few steps forward, getting closer to James and his group, and could hear their conversation again!

“Well, I thought that paper was a piece of cake,” he heard Sirius say. “I’ll be surprised if I don’t get Outstanding on it at least.”

“Me too, the questions were too easy,” said James.

He put his hand in his pocket and took out a struggling Golden Snitch.

“Where did you get that?”

“Nicked it,” said James casually.

He started playing with the Snitch, allowing it to fly as much as a foot away and seizing it again; his reflexes were excellent. Harry had never seen anyone better than him.

Beside James, Wormtail watched him in awe.

A few minutes later, they stopped in the shade of the beech tree on the edge of the lake.

Harry looked over his shoulder yet again and saw, to his delight, that Snape had settled himself on the grass in the dense shadows of a clump of bushes. He was as deeply immersed in the O.W.L. paper as ever, which left Harry free to sit down on the grass between the beech and the bushes and watch the foursome under the tree.

The sunlight was dazzling on the smooth surface of the lake, on the bank of which the group of laughing girls who had just left the Great Hall were sitting with shoes and socks off, cooling their feet in the water.

Lupin had pulled out a book and was reading.

Sirius stared around at the students milling over the grass, looking rather haughty and bored, but very handsomely so.

James was still playing with the Snitch, letting it zoom farther and farther away, almost escaping but always grabbed at the last second.

Wormtail was watching him with his mouth open. Every time James made a particularly difficult catch, Wormtail gasped and applauded.

After five minutes of this, Harry wondered why James didn’t tell Wormtail to get a grip on himself, but James seemed to be enjoying the attention.

Harry noticed his father had a habit of rumpling up his hair as though to make sure it did not get too tidy, and also that he kept looking over at the girls by the water’s edge.

This made him feel uneasy; it was a bit different from what he had imagined.

“Put that away, will you?” said Sirius finally, as James made a fine catch and Wormtail let out a cheer. “Before Wormtail wets himself from excitement.”

Wormtail turned slightly pink but James grinned.

“If it bothers you,” he said, stuffing the Snitch back in his pocket. Harry had the distinct impression that Sirius was the only one for whom James would have stopped showing off.

“I’m bored,” said Sirius. “Wish it was full moon.”

“You might,” said Lupin darkly from behind his book. “We’ve still got Transfiguration; if you’re bored you could test me… Here.” He held out his book.

But Sirius snorted and did not take the book. “I don’t need to look at this rubbish, I know it all.”

“This’ll liven you up, Padfoot,” said James quietly. “Look who it is!”

Sirius’s head turned. He had become very still, like a dog that has scented a rabbit.

“Excellent,” he said softly. “Snivellus.”

Harry turned to see what Sirius was looking at.

Snape was on his feet again, and was stowing the O.W.L. paper in his bag. As he emerged from the shadows of the bushes and set off across the grass, Sirius and James stood up.

Harry had a bad feeling in his heart. What were they up to?!

Lupin and Wormtail remained sitting: Lupin was still staring down at his book, though his eyes were not moving and a faint frown line had appeared between his eyebrows. Wormtail was looking from Sirius and James to Snape with a look of avid anticipation on his face.

“All right, Snivellus?” said James loudly.

Snape reacted so fast it was as though he had been expecting an attack: Dropping his bag, he plunged his hand inside his robes, and his wand was halfway into the air when James shouted, “Expelliarmus!”

Snape’s wand flew twelve feet into the air and fell with a little thud in the grass behind him. Sirius let out a bark of laughter.

“Impedimenta!” he said, pointing his wand at Snape, who was knocked off his feet, halfway through a dive toward his own fallen wand.

Students all around had turned to watch. Some of them had gotten to their feet and were edging nearer to watch. Some looked apprehensive, others entertained, but no one stopped them.

Snape lay panting on the ground, biting his lip tightly.

James and Sirius advanced on him, wands up, James glancing over his shoulder at the girls at the water’s edge as he went.

Wormtail was on his feet now, watching hungrily, edging around Lupin to get a clearer view.

“Don’t get excited, Snivelly,” said James. “We just wanted to ask, how did the exam do?”

“I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment,” said Sirius viciously. “There’ll be great grease marks all over it; they won’t be able to read a word.”

Several people watching laughed; Snape was clearly unpopular. Wormtail sniggered shrilly, and Lupin frowned at them.

Snape was trying to get up, but the jinx was still operating on him; he was struggling, as though bound by invisible ropes.

“You — wait,” he panted, staring up at James with an expression of purest loathing. “You

“Wait for what?” said Sirius coolly. “What’re you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?”

Amidst the laughter, Snape let out a stream of mixed swearwords and hexes, but his wand being ten feet away nothing happened.

“That’s really bad, wash out your mouth,” said James coldly. “Scourgify!”

Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snape’s mouth at once; the froth was covering his lips, making him gag, choking him —

Watching all this, Harry felt awful; even Malfoy wouldn’t do something like this.

“Leave him ALONE!” James and Sirius looked around. James’s free hand jumped to his hair again.

It was one of the girls from the lake edge. She had thick, dark red hair that fell to her shoulders and startlingly green almond-shaped eyes — Harry’s eyes!

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