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Chapter 24: “Punishment?”
🕑 Added 2024-01-08 15:42:37 +0000 UTC"Dad!" shouted little Sophie as she broke away from Penny and ran into her father's arms.
"Are you okay, sweetie?" asked Richard as he checked his daughter from head to toe, he sighed in relief as she didn't have a minor injury, just some gunk from falling in the dirt.
Richard lifted Sophie up and quickly turned to Penny, "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly, but his daughter wasn't listening to him she was looking towards James who was still sitting quietly.
"Only minor wounds... but he..." said Penny, her father quickly noticed that this was the Potter's son.
"Wait here..." said Richard leaving Sophie with Penny.
"Hey kid, are you okay?" asked Richard approaching James, he suddenly stopped in shock. He could better notice James' wounds, especially the one on his right arm, completely broken and with a visible bone, plus it was dripping with a large amount of blood.
"What's all this blood!" asked Richard in terror.
"Hey! Are you okay!" he asked again in a loud and very concerned tone.
"I'm...fine..." replied James slowly and with difficulty.
Richard couldn't believe how this boy endured the pain and didn't cry with such an injury. His vision shifted to the troll, the weirdest thing was that his head was completely crushed, "What happened here?" he asked, although he could already tell that this beast was to blame for James and Penny's injuries.
"No... nothing has happened..." replied James who had very little energy to speak.
...
The sun was rising in the forest, the birds were singing, and it seemed a peaceful place, very different from the night before when everything was in chaos.
James was resting on a stretcher, his arm was healed and bandaged, and his bone was in place. His wounds from yesterday were gone.
After Richard arrived, shortly thereafter, his mother and father arrived, looking a bit disheveled but safe This left James very calm, however, it was not the same for them, who saw their son with his arm bone out of place and dripping with blood.
Quickly his mother stopped his bleeding and healed his cuts, thanks to his wounds he was not lectured, most likely today would be that day. James opened his eyes slowly, he was in a kind of communal tent, where all the wounded from yesterday were.
Luckily, he had an individual area to be able to rest alone, the benefit of his mother being a skilled healer. He looked at his bandaged arm and no longer felt the great pain of yesterday.
"Don't move it" said a voice in a bossy tone. James turned his head and noticed it was his mother who was scowling heavily. His father and grandfather also came in behind her. Unlike the usual smiles, they had serious expressions, as they looked at James.
James had never seen his family with such expressions, especially his mother, and a fear began to grow inside him. He disobeyed his parents' orders in a very dangerous situation. He deserved to be punished.
James didn't look at his family, he looked down noticing that his hands were now clean, not full of dirt and blood like yesterday.
"James Potter. You disobeyed my order and came face to face with a 3-meter troll" said Euphemia in an angry tone.
"I'm sorry..." said James without looking up and tightening his grip on the sheets.
Euphemia approached the stretcher and positioned herself very close to James who closed his eyes, ready to receive his punishment, remembering those times when he made a mistake and was punished by his old mother Elizabeth.
"Silly boy... Why are you making that expression? You make me look like the bad one" Euphemia whispered as she hugged James.
James could feel drops falling on his face, it was his mother's tears. He didn't understand what was going on, his mother was supposed to be yelling angrily at him, but she was hugging him lovingly and crying.
For some reason it felt worse to see his mother crying, "Do you know how scared I was when we couldn't find you anywhere?" asked Euphemia grabbing James' face and making him look her in the eyes.
"I'm sorry mother..." said James this time looking at her.
"Tell me mom" said Euphemia in a bossy tone.
"Mom..." murmured James shyly.
"I'm glad you're safe" she added with a loving smile. James couldn't believe he hadn't been lectured, his parents were never strict and yet he disobeyed the first order they gave him. He didn't think he could escape this so easily.
"You did well saving those two girls. As a father I am proud, but you must put your life first" Fleamont said sitting on the other side of the bed and looking at James with concern.
"Sorry, I'll keep that in mind" James said sheepishly, with his parents, he was very obedient unlike with other people.
"Ugh... It's hard, we can't punish you, since if you didn't act those two girls wouldn't be here..." sighed Fleamont as he tousled his hair.
"I had it under control, but that troll's resistance surprised me..." commented James.
"They were no ordinary mountain trolls" said Henry joining the conversation. James looked with a raised eyebrow at his grandfather waiting for him to continue.
"In addition to the troll you defeated, there were two more. In the ministry ranks there were experts on magical creatures, and they knew there was something wrong with them, they were more aggressive and resilient than the normal ones, it must be the work of those hooded ones" explained Henry.
James understood why the troll was able to get up even though he had hit him hard on the back of the head with the club.
"What happened to the hooded ones? Are Mr. Steve and his family, okay?" asked James.
The three adults looked at each other with difficult expressions. James noticed this and asked, "Did something bad happen...?"
Euphemia and Fleamont didn't want to tell their son about that event. Henry who was from another era was the one who answered.
"Anyway, it will be in the Prophet and all the newspapers in the magical world. You will find out sooner or later, the hoods... murdered the whole muggle family" said Henry with a difficult expression.
"How...?" asked James in shock. So many wizards and witches had gone to save those muggles.
"Those hooded wizards that attacked are part of a group. It's not the first attack on muggles they've done. Their first attack was last year. It was in the Prophet" replied Henry.
James remembered that front page story in the Prophet. A muggle house in a remote part of town was trashed, and the whole family died, clearly there were signs of magic, so the Ministry employees had to act to make the muggle police think it was a normal crime.
'They must have something to do with Voldemort' James thought with a frown. Voldemort turned the magical world upside down. He couldn't have done it alone, he had followers.
"Were they able to stop them?" asked James.
"No, but that's none of your business boy. You must recover, to start Hogwarts in the best possible condition" said Henry roughly stroking James' black hair.
Although he felt that James should know some things, Henry didn't want his grandson to get involved in adult matters. He was too young to worry about how these criminals would be caught.
James didn't say anything, he knew they wouldn't tell him anything else, he had to find the information on his own. Voldemort's followers are a threat to him, as they are led by the person who will try to kill him in the future.
"Speaking of the troll you defeated..." said Fleamont looking at his son in amazement. He knew of his son's talent, but that he could defeat a mountain troll much more aggressive and resilient than the average one, was a very incredible milestone and hard to believe.
Fleamont had personally trained James and knew of his incredible talent in martial magic, however, practicing in a well-kept room with good lighting was very different from being in a life-and-death situation in a dark forest, facing a doped-up troll with a murderous stare.
'Defeat? I murdered it, but you could put it that way...' thought James. If muggles were considered by many to be cattle, the life of a magical creature like the troll who had very low intelligence didn't matter much if he was killed. He was like an animal.
"What happened?" asked James.
"We have decided to hide the fact that you defeated him. It would be very conspicuous and could bring some problems. We have already spoken to Richard and his family" he replied.
James nodded. He used magic as a minor, and without having started Hogwarts. It was best to hide it.
"Hello, can we come in?" asked a voice. James recognized the voice to be Richard.
"Come in" said Henry. Richard followed by Penny, Sophie, and their mother entered the room.
"Well, we have some patients to attend to. After you talk to them, rest anything you need call me" Euphemia said kissing James on the forehead and leaving the room with Henry and Fleamont.
James couldn't believe he wasn't punished, on the contrary, his mother cried, and even though she had a frown on her face, she showed much love and concern than before. Even though he knew how loving his parents were in this life and that they were different from his old parents, he believed that when he disobeyed his first order he would be punished.
'My parents are different now...' thought James.
