James’ Jury
‘Do you think Miss Norris should wear a bow?’
‘What?’ the girl asked, surprised at being addressed out of the blue with such a random question.
‘You know, a nice pink one between her ears would suit her,’ the questioner continued and scribbled a few words down onto the clipboard he was carrying. He looked up at her again, and scrutinising her carefully, added, ‘Don’t you think she should?’
Dorcas Meadowes rolled her eyes, shook her head and side-stepped him. ‘Potter, you’re nuts.’ Fastening the strap of her bag on her shoulder, she hurried away. Her friends had waited at the end of the corridor and now huddled around her, without a doubt wanting to question what James Potter had wanted.
‘You need to approach them differently, Prongs,’ Remus advised when he reached the place where his friend stood. He received a glare, which he took with a chuckle. ‘Aw, is the famous James Potter offended?’ he mocked.
‘Thanks for your help,’ James shot back, pouting, and then clamping the clipboard under his arm. Taking up his bag, he walked on, Remus following closely behind.
They walked in silence for some time before James spoke again. ‘What do you suggest?’
Since Remus had waited for James to ask him for his advice, he had the answer already prepared. ‘Don’t scare them,’ he said. ‘You need to address them only when they see you coming towards them. This way they get a chance to be prepared. Jumping in front of someone to ask a random question without even saying hello or anything else is considered impolite.’
‘Hmm…’
‘Why not try to make it in a written form? You could always prepare a kind of questionnaire and hand it out. This way you can ask more questions, and get back a variety of answers and opinions. Maybe some will write down ideas of what to include or leave out.’
James said nothing for a while, pondering over what his friend had suggested. But then a question formed in his mind and he asked, ‘Who’s going to receive these questionnaires?’
‘Well,’ Remus thought while he and James turned into the hallway that led to Gryffindor Tower, ‘you can hand them out personally in the common room or maybe during meals’ time in the Great Hall. You could also display them “ in the classrooms, for example, but this might cause trouble with the teachers. Possibilities are in the Great Hall, in the common rooms… There are many different places.’
‘What about in the library?’
‘Good idea. Should have thought of that myself,’ Remus replied. ‘But you should clarify your displaying with Madame Pince first. You know how she gets when anyone steps over the line she has drawn in her rules.’
‘Yeah…’ James vaguely replied. They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, and Remus gave the password while James asked, ‘And how do I get the questionnaires into the other houses’ common rooms?’
Remus was about to step through the hole but upon being spoken to he paused, turned around and ogled at James. ‘You cannot be serious? You, of all people, should by now be able to pull this off, and yet you ask me?’ His voice vibrated with suppressed laughter. ‘Prongs, I’m “’
But whatever Remus had wanted to say went lost when another person from inside the common room spoke up, ‘Did I hear my name there? No one can be Sirius, because that’s who I am.’
~*~
Have you ever wondered how Professor Dumbledore would look without his long beard? Or what Miss Norris would be like when wearing a fluffy pink bow? If you could answer the above questions with a hearty yes, then you should read on.
Below there are going to be several question. I want you to read them and think about them. Do you agree? Or even disagree? Tell me your opinion. If the majority agrees to the questions, then I’ll try to get this to happen.
You can hand back the parchment by simply double-folding them, bewitching them with “Volaris retro” and voila, I’ll get your opinions in an instant.
But enough babble, here it goes:
1) Do you think Professor Dumbledore would look much better without a beard?
2) Do you agree that a trip to Hogsmeade should be allowed every Saturday?
3) What is your opinion on Miss Norris wearing a bow? It can be worn anywhere, and it can be of any colour (if you have suggestions of where this bow should be attached, and what colour it should be, then add them).
4) Do you think that to keep a dragon as a pet would be an enormous accomplishment for Hogwarts?
5) Hogwarts’ ghosts giving private lessons “ an impossibility of performance? Or something you’ve always dreamed of?
6) Should Professor McGonagall dye her hair? If yes, do you have any suggestions what would suit her?
And now the most important question:
7) Do you think Lily Evans should finally agree to go out with the very good-looking James Potter?
Thank you for taking some time to answer these world-shaking questions. And remember: “Volaris retro.”
Slowly, Remus let the piece of parchment sink into his lap. Dumbstruck, he stared up at James who stood next to his bed, grinning like a child for which Christmas had come early and had brought many good presents.
‘So, any good?’ the black-haired boy asked enthusiastically.
‘Prongs… James…’ Remus shook his head. ‘Well… you know, when I suggested a questionnaire, I didn’t think of…’ he lifted the parchment and waved it in front of his face, ‘I didn’t think of this.’
‘How else should I have written it? Oh, come on, Moony, it’s good. Everyone will like it. They’ll answer them.’
‘And where did you get this spell from?’ Remus asked out of curiosity when he browsed the parchment again.
‘Well… you’d like to know, wouldn’t you?’ James replied cockily and snatched the questionnaire out of Remus’ hand before the other boy could react. ‘See ya! I’m going to hand these out now!’ With a wink and a huge pile of parchment questionnaires stacked under his arm, the dark-haired boy left the dorm, leaving behind an even more dumbfounded Remus Lupin, who could only sigh and hope that his friend was not going to make a complete fool out of himself.
Two days later, after a wearisome Quidditch training, James entered the dormitory he shared with his three friends to find Sirius and Peter sitting on the floor, surrounded by many pieces of parchment. ‘What the he”’ he began, but was interrupted by Remus who stepped into the circular room after him.
‘You should have seen it coming, Prongs. With that spell of yours…’ he trailed off when he received a glare. Remus chuckled; his friend seemed to distribute glares frequently and very freely in the last days.
‘Oi, Prongs!’ Sirius greeted them then, having just noticed their entrances. ‘That’s an interesting read. Who’s written that?’ He waved with a bunch of pieces of parchment clutched into his fist.
James sighed and dropped his broomstick next to his bed, then sank tiredly onto the soft mattress. ‘That would be me.’
‘You?’ Peter asked and looked up, staring at James. ‘Is this for your detention part?’
‘Correctly guessed.’
Remus sat down too, and now asked, ‘Can you read something aloud, Padfoot?’
Sirius grinned and picked one piece of parchment that lay a little way apart of the rest of the pile, he smoothed the wrinkles out and began to read in a voice that clearly suggested how much fun he thought it was.
~*~
CHANGES “ OPEN YOUR DOOR TO SOMETHING NEW
Whoever said changes are not men’s best friend is mistaken. Everyone needs a change from time to time. With a change you can alter a dull, grey everyday situation into something colourful, something that catches your eye and heart and says, “This is what life should be: a wonderful rainbow of happiness.”
Men are creatures of habit. We like fixed times for meals, we have a failsafe way of how to deal with stress and huge amounts of work. But do we have fun in life? If you can answer this question with a hearty yes, then you don’t need to read on because the following article won’t tell you anything new.
But if you are part of the majority that can’t claim to live a varied life, then you’ll find your answers here.
To make a change, you need some courage, something to overcome the jump over your shadow.
As you are all very much aware, there were questionnaires handed out on which various questions about possible changes to Hogwarts and life in the castle were phrased. Many of you have taken the time to answer them, and I am now in the lucky situation to present you the results to questions that will enormously affect our regular days.
We all know that our beloved headmaster, Professor Albus Dumbledore, (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, and member of the International Confederation of Wizards), wears a long silver-white beard which’s tip is tucked into his belt. He seems fond of it, but do you think Professor Dumbledore would look much better without a beard? Many of you answered with a yes. And since this is a special issue, I will talk to our headmaster in person to suggest to him to take off his beard. We all agreed that he would look much better without it, so I will take this as a basic when approaching him on this matter.
To leisurely walk through the village on a beautiful day with friends, visit the Three Broomsticks to homely sit and drink warm, house-made Butterbeer, chat with the lovely barmaid, Madame Rosmerta, and in the evening return with bags full of colourful and varied-tasted sweets “ this all makes a perfect trip to Hogsmeade. But these trips are much too rare. Therefore, do you agree that a trip to Hogsmeade should be allowed every Saturday? Again, the majority agreed, and, in service of my fellow students and friends, I shall suggest this matter to Professor Dumbledore in the private meeting as well.
What is your opinion on Miss Norris wearing a bow? Now, this question seemed to have resulted in a discussion. Several of you agreed and suggested that a fluffy pink bow between Miss Norris’ ears would look lovely. However, other students argued that Mr Filch wouldn’t be in agreement with this change. My dear fellow students, the change is what makes our lives worth living, and although Mr Filch might not be agreeable at first, I think he’d realise fairly quickly that a fluffy pink bow is an enormous improvement to the appearance of his beloved tabby cat. Unfortunately, since the majority rejected this idea, I won’t be able to address it with Mr Filch. It was your collective opinion, and however much I’d like Miss Norris to alter her appearance, I will have to respect it.
Everyone knows Hogwarts’ motto: Draco Dormiens Tunquam Titillandus “ Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon. But how can we know that this motto is correct? No one has ever seen a dragon personally, or have you? To teach us this motto could be a trick of the older generations to keep us away from dragons. But why should they do so? Simply because we could find out that dragons aren’t the dangerous creatures they are described to be. I mean, just ask our own Rubeus Hagrid. He swears that dragons are loveable, harmless creatures that are vastly misunderstood.
So do you agree there? Do you think that to keep a dragon as a pet would be an enormous accomplishment for Hogwarts? Again, many have answered with a yes, and I shall therefore “ in accordance with your wishes “ talk to Professor Dumbledore about getting a dragon as Hogwarts’ pet.
Several of you suggested that we should get a dragon’s egg rather than a full-grown one. I agree; looking after the egg until the baby dragon hatches could be taken as a project or class lecture for Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid himself has offered to take care of the little beauty, take over the responsibility of feeding and providing the dragon with a lovely home to stay safe while it prospers and grows. We all will be the dragon’s family, and everyone is surely excited to have this special sibling among our midst.
Hogwarts’ ghosts giving private lessons “ an impossibility of performance? Or something you’ve always dreamed of? Here the majority didn’t answer. Apparently no one ever considered a chance of being lectured by souls that have long since departed mortality. It is a pity, but I’ll respect the majority’s wish, although I want to add that Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington would have loved to teach us all about his lifetime of experience.
I admit that the next question wasn’t an easy one. Should Professor McGonagall dye her hair? Here, too, many have declined, stating the opinion that our Transfiguration Professor’s hair looks perfect the way it is. But again, I want to remind you that we need courage to overcome our fears of change. I would have very much liked to take on the task and ask Professor McGonagall to dye her hair…
Life without a change is dull “ this we already know. But love is as important as a change to bring colour into a grey day. Yet, love doesn’t start with only one person having feelings for another one. To love, two persons are required. And believe me when I say, my dear fellow students, I am in love, so much so that it hurts to see her walk by and not be able to convince her that, deep down, she feels the same for me. I therefore asked you about your opinion with the question: Do you think Lily Evans should finally agree to go out with the very good-looking James Potter?
But alas, despite my good-will intentions, some of you mean harm to me. Quite some replies contained words like: “I don’t care”, “not my way to decide” or “Potter, get over it”. I was hurt, deeply to my heart.
However, thankfully there were some students who agreed that the lovely and beautiful Miss Lily Evans should give it a try and accept my offer to go out with her. Since the majority of responses wanted to see this situation to happen, I promise hereby that I will ask her out on the day this newspaper is going to be published.
Once again, dear fellow students, think about changes in your life. They don’t have to be big or world-shaking; it’s the odds and ends, the details that can make the difference.
Thank you for participating in answering the questions.