Semper Fidelis

Chapter 10.2

James, Nate, and Teddy sat with Drew's fourth year friends for their meal. James thought it would be weird to sit with the older kids, but he was pleasantly surprised at how welcoming the entire group was. They weren't all Slytherins either; Drew seemed to be pretty popular across all of the four Houses and he had friends in all of them. Thus, the far corner of the Slytherin table nearest to the Head table had an array of students from all Houses.

The lunch discussion was light and easygoing. They were talking about the first Hogsmeade visit and Drew promised Nate he would pick up some Tongue Twisting Toffees from the Hogsmeade WWW since first years weren't allowed to leave the castle. James was content with listening to them talk as he ate and the conversation slowly drifted to the Defence class again.

"Hey firsties, have you guys had your DADA class yet?" Drew's best friend and fellow Slytherin Prefect Collin Anderson asked. Collin towered over everyone at the table and played Keeper for the Slytherin Quidditch team.

Teddy shook his head. "Not yet. It's right after lunch."

Amy Song, Ravenclaw beauty and also a Prefect, piped in. "Do tell us how that goes. I can't wait to have Professor Potter in class."

Riley Everett, Slytherin girl and Collin's girlfriend, rolled her eyes and jabbed Amy's side. "Amy here hasn't stopped talking about Harry Potter since he showed up last night."

"Oh shut up Riley, it's not like you were any better. It's exciting having such a celebrity here at Hogwarts." Amy retorted.

Riley settled her blue eyes on Nate and Teddy. She brushed a stray lock of hair from her face and asked, "How's it like having the Harry Potter as your godfather?" At her question, the rest of the table save from Drew and James leaned forward expecting an answer.

At seeing the boys' discomfort, Drew raised his hand and shook his head. "Stop interrogating them Riley."

"Oh you're no fun, Drew. But come on, not all of us is lucky enough to associate with The Saviour. How is it like having him as family?" Amy said.

James could see Drew's mouth set in a line and Nate and Teddy looked at each other in discomfort. It's clear to James that they didn't want to talk about this at all.

"Nate, Teddy, our DADA class is about to start in fifteen minutes. Drew, do you mind showing us how to get to the classroom?" James piped. Drew gave a nod and the four boys rose from their seats. With a small wave, they made their way out of the Great Hall.

There was a slight tension in the air as the four boys walked to the north tower where the Defence class would be taking place. No one said a word for a minute as they mulled over their thoughts.

"Hey James, thanks for getting us out of there." Teddy said breaking the silence.  

Nate seemed to grab onto this cue and he erupted. "I hate it when people pry about Uncle Harry. Can't they just leave him alone?"

James hesitated for a bit but something Riley said nagged at him. "Guys, what did Riley mean when she called him The Saviour?"

The three boys gave a start and they stopped in their tracks. Wide-eyed, the three boys looked at James. "Bloody hell, I forget that you're a Muggleborn and don't know about these things!" Nate exclaimed.

James shrugged. "Is he famous then?"

Drew led the boys to an empty classroom and closed the door behind him. He made James sit on an empty chair and the boys gathered around him. They all shared a look and James saw the silent approval between the cousins before they turned their eyes back onto him.

"James, have you ever heard about the Battle of Hogwarts?" Teddy asked.

A light of recognition shone in James' eyes as he recalled the section in his History of Magic textbook all about this battle and the events leading up to it. It spoke of a Dark Wizard named Voldemort who tried to kill a baby boy only to have the spell rebound and almost kill him. He was so weakened by the spell that he went into hiding for years. The boy, thereby referred to as the Boy Who Lived, survived the night but was marked by a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. He lost his parents that night to the hands of Voldemort and he was then raised by his Muggle aunt and uncle who despised all things magical. While he was reading, James felt like he could relate to the Boy Who Lived, since he too did not know he was a wizard until just before Hogwarts. The chapter went to detail how the Boy Who Lived met his two best friends at Hogwarts, referred to by the book as The King and the Brightest Witch. There was a chapter dedicated to all of their seven years at Hogwarts and a separate chapter altogether on the final battle. James remembered feeling so triumphant as he read about The Defeat in the textbook and he couldn't believe that it only took place just about a mere decade ago. He ended up rereading that chapter and delighted that the Boy Who Lived became the Man Who Saved.

"Yes, I remember reading about that in the History of Magic textbook. It was about the Boy Who Lived who then became the Man Who Saved... wait a minute." James said, his eyes growing wide as the pieces fell into place.

Drew nodded his head wisely and crossed his arms. "Exactly. The Man Who Saved. The Saviour. That's Uncle Harry."

"The book didn't mention his name at all!" James exclaimed. "I read that section fully but I did not read anything about Harry Potter."

"He didn't want his name in anymore publications... so he made it happen." Teddy said with a shrug.

"So him being the Boy Who Lived and then the Man Who Saved... his best friends the King and the Brightest Witch, hunting for Horcruxes, riding dragons... he did all of those things?" James asked in disbelief.

Nate nodded grimly. "It sounds great, I know, but... it's also terrible. People forget that so many people died during the war. And they were only kids for Merlin's sake! My dad - he's who they call The King - told me they had to grow up so fast during then. Every year they were in school there was an attempt at Uncle Harry's life. They didn't even get a seventh year here at Hogwarts! They never got to experience a normal childhood..." Nate's blue eyes clouded over.

James' mind whirled as he processed this new information. No wonder people were so intrigued by the new professor. He thought last night it was because Harry Potter was an Auror (and an accomplished one at that, based on what he'd heard) that people were whispering about him. But no, his Auror qualification seemed like such a small blip when held up against the fact that he saved the entire wizarding world. 'And all before he was an adult,' James thought grimly, recalling the section that said the Man Who Saved was barely a man at seventeen.

James eyed the three boys who all had troubled look on their faces. He knew from their previous interactions that their families were involved in the war in one way or another since Harry Potter seemed to be an integral part of their brood.

"I'm sorry you guys have to deal with all of those questions," James said.

Teddy raised his eyes and gave James a small smile. "We learned to just ignore them. They usually don't mean any harm... they're just curious."

Drew nodded his head. "Our parents have it way worse than we do," he stated as a matter-of-fact.

James bit his lip. "It must really suck to always be reminded of the past since people can't keep their questions to themselves." 

Nate simply shrugged and looked down at his watch. His eyes bugged when he saw the time. "Bloody hell! Five minutes til class! We'll be late!"

The four boys quickly rushed out of the empty classroom with Drew leading the way to the first year Defence Against the Dark Arts class.