Sixth-Year Boys' Dormitory

The sixth-year boys' dormitory in Gryffindor Tower was a mess, a chaotic scene of returning students.

Four suitcases lay open like gaping mouths.

Quills rolled under the beds, socks draped over chair backs, and an ink bottle was left uncorked, emitting a faint odor.

Two flying broomsticks lay across the bedsides.

"Professor McGonagall's face was priceless," James said, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at Sirius across the room. "I bet she's already thought up a hundred ways Filch can torture us."

The pillow flipped in the air and hit its target perfectly.

Sirius caught the pillow and threw it back expressionlessly. "Thanks for that, Prongs. I was actually planning to finish the first week's homework before Saturday, but thanks to you, we'll probably be seeing the Hogwarts sunrise again."

James put on an innocent expression. "Don't be like that, Padfoot. You should thank me for getting you out of that situation."

Sirius yanked a pile of messy clothes from his suitcase and stuffed them into the wardrobe. "What situation? With that mouth of yours, no wonder Evans won't even look at you. How many times has she rejected you now? Eighty?"

James's expression immediately fell. "Seventy-nine, okay? Today she just rejected the flowers I gave her, that doesn't count, and she actually spoke to me today!"

Sirius said with feigned sympathy, "Oh, really? Should I remind you? Potter, you're an idiot, stay away from me – that doesn't count as a conversation? And she also warned you that teasing a first-year would get you reported to Professor McGonagall. Why didn't you write that down in your stupid notebook too?"

James straightened his back, but his tone was clearly lacking confidence. "She'll change her mind. This year is definitely going to be my lucky year."

Lupin sat on his bed, already in his pajamas, holding a copy of Advanced Transfiguration. He was helplessly helping the others study the key points for tomorrow's class.

"Stop arguing, you two. You've already lost twenty points before the first day of school. Our Gryffindor hourglass is almost empty."

Peter walked out of the bathroom, still wiping his face with a towel. "Speaking of which, did you guys see the new Ravenclaw? The one from the Crouch family?"

Sirius paused his movements, pretending to concentrate on organizing his things.

Lupin closed his book. "Lucretia, right? I heard Mr. Crouch adopted her."

Peter jumped onto his bed and pulled a bag of licorice wands from under his pillow. "When I was washing up, I heard a lot of people talking about her. Everyone's curious how she ended up being adopted by such a big shot from the Ministry of Magic."

Sirius's tone was stiff. "It's all just boring gossip, who cares?"

James's eyes darted around, and he looked at Sirius with a wicked grin. "Right? Who cares? Is that right, Padfoot?"

Sirius glared at him and threw an unopened can of broom polish onto James's lap. "Shut up, James! Aren't your own problems enough?"

Peter took a bite of his licorice wand, his eyes lit up, but he quickly concealed his excessive interest.

"So, Prongs was telling the truth? You're actually interested in her?"

Sirius rolled his eyes.

He snorted. "I was just amused by her brother's ready-to-fight expression. Didn't you see? That Crouch looked like he was ready to cast a spell on those Ravenclaw girls at any moment."

Peter nodded, a flicker of something else in his eyes. "That's true. I heard his dad has arrested quite a few people at the Ministry... he has a lot of power now."

Lupin observed Peter's expression. "Are you very interested in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement?"

Peter shrugged. "Uh, I just heard some news. The Daily Prophet said a lot of people are afraid of Mr. Crouch."

Sirius scoffed. "It's not that big of a deal. The Daily Prophet also reported last week that the Head of the Department of Magical Transportation was attacked by a Muggle vacuum cleaner. That thing is just a cleaning device, but they wrote it up like some Dark Magic device that sucks out souls."

Lupin couldn't help but chuckle. "They even included a picture of the Head of Department screaming as he ran out of his office, remember?"

James rolled his eyes. "My mom seriously asked if Hogwarts had researched an anti-vacuum cleaner charm. The newspapers are getting more and more ridiculous."

Peter giggled. "But seriously, you guys have heard about Mr. Crouch's new policies, right? They say he's even going to reorganize the Werewolf Registry and strengthen controls."

Lupin stiffened slightly.

Sirius glanced at Lupin and cut Peter off. "Alright, let's not talk about that. We just got back to school, why bring this up?"

James picked up the conversation. "Let's talk about something interesting, like the detentions James and I went through. You know, Lily even threatened to write to my mum."

Lupin visibly relaxed and said with a smile, "Oh, Evans cares about you, that's truly a miracle."

Peter burst out laughing. "I heard that's the eightieth time she's rejected you?"

James sat up and emphasized, "Seventy-ninth! Why can't you guys remember that number? I keep a special record!"

Sirius yawned and leaned back on his bed. "Because there are too many to count. Honestly, you should give up."

James lay back down, hugging the pillow to his chest. "Never give up, that's the Potter family motto."

Lupin's lips also curled into a smile. "I thought the Potter family motto was 'Troublemaker'."

Peter paused, as if asking casually, "By the way, how's our map coming along? I remember we were stuck on that tracking spell before the summer vacation."

The gazes of the three men immediately met, just for a moment.

Then James picked up his pillow again, Lupin continued flipping through his book, and Sirius finished his yawn.

Peter was still focused on gnawing his licorice wand, completely oblivious.

James replied casually, "We've made some progress. But the tracking function is too complicated. Moony spent a long time searching for information in the Restricted Section, so it'll probably take a while longer to research."

Peter asked eagerly, "Is there anything I can do to help? I mean, I could turn into a rat and scout out some passages..."

Sirius yawned again. "Let's finish this week's Transfiguration homework first. Professor McGonagall is scarier than the Marauder's Map when she's angry."

Lupin agreed, glancing at the clock. "Indeed, it's getting late. We have Transfiguration class tomorrow."

Peter looked a little disappointed, but didn't insist further, "Alright. Oh, right, Professor Sprout said she'd teach us Bouncing Bulbs this semester. I heard they're disgusting."

A few minutes later, all four began preparing for bed.

James turned off the light last, "Goodnight, guys, I'm heading off."

In the darkness, Sirius turned on his side to look out the window.

From this angle, he could vaguely see another side of the castle, where there was a tower with a few lights still on.

Lupin's voice sounded in the darkness, very soft, almost inaudible to anyone but him, "Stop thinking about it."

Sirius didn't reply.

He just adjusted his pillow, turned over, and faced away from the window.

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