#jarveys

Even the staircase seemed to go down forever. Round and round they spiralled, the air growing colder with every turn, until Peter was convinced they must be somewhere beneath the dungeons. 

At last, the steps ended in a low stone passageway. It was wide enough for two to walk abreast, though had they been taller, their shoulders might have brushed the walls. 

The tunnel stretched away into the darkness, disappearing around a gentle curve. Its walls were made of the same grey stone as the castle, though darker here with damp. Every so often, droplets of water trickled down the walls and collected in shallow puddles on the floor.

At first, Peter listened eagerly as James and Sirius speculated about where the tunnel might emerge. After a while, however, he started growing weary, the soles of his feet hurting. 

The tunnel curved steadily onwards as they kept walking. And walking. And walking. Every time Peter rounded a bend, he expected to see daylight or a door or something. Instead, there was only more tunnel waiting for them.

'How long is this tunnel?' he asked eventually.

'That's what we're trying to find out,' said Sirius, turning his face just enough for Peter to see his arched eyebrows. Right.

Then, finally, the tunnel started to rise. At first, Peter wondered if he imagined it, but then, Sirius stopped, grabbed James’ arm and pointed at the ground.

The boys picked up speed after that, and before they knew it, they were standing by:

‘Hogsmeade station,’ groaned Sirius. ‘Really?’

‘It is rather anti-climactic,’ concurred Remus.

‘We must have walked around the lake,’ said Sirius, still surveying the grounds, ‘and I’d bet anything it was the long way around, under the road to Hogsmeade.’

James, however, was not to be dissuaded that quickly.

‘But we can walk that way overground now, and get to the village.’

‘There must be better options,’ argued Sirius.

‘Sure,’ agreed James, ‘but we don’t know those “better options” yet, do we?’

His gaze travelled over the trees on the other side of the station.

‘And we can explore the forest here too.’

‘Yeah, because we’re bound to find lots of interesting stuff,’ said Sirius sarcastically.

James just grinned and started walking towards the small bridge that would take them over to the other side of the tracks. Sirius shrugged and followed. Peter and Remus exchanged a look, before hurrying after them.

The station was deserted. The platform where they had first arrived at Hogwarts a little over a month ago stood empty beneath a blanket of grey clouds. 

Crossing the bridge, Peter looked back once. From here, Hogwarts was hidden by the slope of the land and the trees surrounding the lake. It gave him a strange feeling. For the first time since September, he was standing somewhere that wasn’t part of the castle or its grounds.

On the far side of the tracks, James led them towards the trees.

Peter had expected something more dramatic. The Forbidden Forest, viewed from the castle, always looked impossibly dark and mysterious. The edge of this forest, however, looked much like any other woodland. Tall oaks and beeches stretched overhead, their branches half-bare. Damp leaves carpeted the ground beneath their feet, and every now and then a gust of wind made the treetops creak softly.

After a few minutes, the station and tracks disappeared from view behind the trees. The light seemed dimmer here. The sounds of the wind faded too, leaving only the squashing sound of rotting leaves beneath their shoes. 

Peter found himself glancing between the trees. It’s just an ordinary forest, he reminded himself. Yet he couldn’t dispel a feeling that they were being watched. Then:

'Nosey little brats.'

Peter froze. The voice had come from somewhere ahead.

'Poking about.'

'Stupid brats.'

'Ugly brats.'

The remarks seemed to be coming from all directions at once. 

James' face lit up. 'Did you hear that?'

A rustling sounded in a patch of bracken to their left. Something long and dark darted between the ferns.

'There!' cried Peter.

They spun around. For a split second, Peter caught sight of a creature about the size of a ferret. It had black fur, bright eyes and a surprisingly human expression.

'Oafs,' it announced.

It vanished, but not before another voice behind them uttered:

‘Blind oafs.’

Four heads turned. A second creature was perched atop a fallen log.

'Nasty hair,' the creature said.

'Tiny brain,' this came from their left.

‘Pea brain.’ This from their right. Then:

‘Pea brain!’

‘Pea brain!’

‘Pea brain!’

From all around them. 

‘Jarvey,’ observed Sirius, his eyes shining bright. 

‘What?’ asked Peter who felt increasingly stressed out by the creatures moving around and shouting insults at them.

‘They’re talking ferrets, basically,’ explained James happily.

Once they’d all grown tired of the endless insults (James and Sirius seemed to find being insulted quite interesting), they continued onwards.

‘Those Jarveys could really give Peeves a run for his money,’ mused James, whereas Sirius saw things in an entirely different light. He was wearing a dreamy far-off look as he said: ‘Imagine bringing Snivellus here.’

They walked for another ten or so minutes. Peter, whose feet had already grown tired in the secret passageway, hoped they’d stop soon. Keeping his eyes on the ground, he kept imagining what it would be like, back in the common room, in a comfortable squashy armchair. 

Something moved. On the ground. A fallen branch. But branches didn’t slither forward.

A snake.

His breath caught in his throat. 

It was enormous. Thick as his arm, its scales dark and wet-looking amongst the dead leaves. Peter couldn't move. He hated snakes. Even working with their skin and fangs in Potions made his skin crawl.

The snake lifted its head. Its eyes fixed on him. Finally, Peter managed to take a step back. 

‘S-s-s-,’ he stuttered. 

'Peter?' asked Remus.

The snake moved again.

'Snake!' yelped Peter.

He stumbled backwards so quickly that he nearly tripped over a tree root. Remus ran forward as the two others spun around too.

Crack! 

The snake disappeared. Peter scanned the ground frantically.

‘Turn around,’ said Remus, voice suddenly oddly commanding. ‘It’s a boggart.’

‘D’you know how to get rid of it?’ asked James, who, like Sirius and Peter had followed Remus’ instructions.

Only Remus faced towards the boggart, his face closed. 

‘No,’ he said slowly, ‘it’s best if we run for it, I think. They’re not dangerous, but…’

Better safe than sorry.

Peter turned and bolted.

Dead leaves flew up beneath their feet as all four of them crashed through the trees. Before him, he could see Sirius and James crashing through the undergrowth, James in the lead.

No one looked back.

Lungs now burning, his feet seemed determined to catch on every root and fallen branch in the forest. Twice he stumbled. The third time he went down completely, pitching forwards onto his hands and knees.

For one horrible second he was convinced that if he looked over his shoulder, he would see the snake. Instead, a hand seized the back of his robes. Remus helped him up to his feet.

‘Are you okay?’

Peter nodded as they kept running. The trees began to thin. Grey daylight filtered through the branches ahead.

'Hogsmeade station!' shouted James who was far ahead of the others by now.

The sight of the platform a few seconds later gave Peter a burst of energy. They raced across the open ground, shoes thudding on the wooden bridge, before plunging into the concealed entrance of the passageway.

Only once the stone door had swung shut behind them did they stop. Breathing hard, Peter leaned against the damp wall of the tunnel.

‘Snakes, Pete?’ asked Sirius once he’d gotten his breath back. 

James shuddered. ‘Did you even see it? It was enormous!’

Sirius rolled his eyes.

‘How did you know it was a Boggart?’ asked James, turning to Remus. 

‘My dad’s an expert in them.’

‘I know that.’ James waved a hand. The others looked faintly surprised at this. ‘But still, how did you know?’

‘Well, I guess he saw his greatest fear.’ 

Sirius arched his eyebrows.

‘Yeah, but so did Peter,’ pushed James, ‘and it could just have been a snake.’

‘You know,’ said Remus, starting to walk, ‘that’s how mum and dad met.’

‘A boggart?’ asked James, who seemed to forget his previous line of enquiry and hurried to follow. 

‘Precisely. Mum ran into one in a forest, and dad… Well, I guess he didn’t actually save her as she was never in any danger, but he helped her.’