āSo,ā said Sirius. āYou hexed Bertha Jorkins.ā
āThe biggest tattletale in school.ā
āAnd youāre surprised you got a detention, why?ā
James sighed and stabbed moodily at his potatoes. They were at dinner, and more than once his gaze had swept the Great Hall in search of Lily Evansā¦but she had not yet appeared. āIām not surprised I got a detention, Iām just surprised Bertha took it all the way to Dumbledore. The Headmaster? Really? I mean ā okay, I shouldnāt have hexed her, but all I did was momentarily shut her up.ā Ā
āIt was practically a public service,ā agreed Peter with a sympathetic grimace. Ā
āItās Bertha,ā said Sirius. āIf she had the option to go directly to the Headmaster to complain every time someone sneezed, she would. Though frankly, Iām more surprised Dumbledore was around to hear it. Your bad luck, I suppose.ā
Bad luck, James couldnāt help but feel, was all he had these days, and it was bad luck indeed that though the Headmaster had been conspicuously absent from the castle for weeks on end, he just so happened to be passing through the entrance hall at precisely the moment Berthaās tongue unstuck from the roof of her mouth. The wretched girl had barely waited the length of a swallow of spit to storm off and make her weepy complaint.
āHe put a hex on me, Professor Dumbledore,ā sheād whinged so loudly that anyone in the vicinity could easily overhear, āand I was only teasing him, sir, I only said Iād seen him kissing Florence behind the greenhouses last Thursday, and then he put a hex on me! Nearly choked me, he did!ā