Disclaimer:

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I create.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

"What is that?" Sirius got closer to examine the object.

"Have you never seen a briefcase before?" Peter threw a suspicious glare at him.

"Of course I have! But there must be more to it. Why would James order a normal briefcase by owl?" Sirius shot back.

The four friends were back in their dormitory after having dinner, and James had promised to show them the item the owl had delivered that same morning.

"Are you going to explain?" Remus decided to ask.

James took the briefcase back from Sirius's hands and placed it on the ground.

"Let's see…" He then tapped the top part with his wand as directed by the instructions pamphlet in his hand. "I am James Fleamont Potter, and this is my property," he announced out loud.

The case made a clicking noise following that.

"Was that a security charm?" Remus asked.

James nodded. "We should be able to go inside now."

He opened it up, revealing a set of stairs that led further down into the interior of the briefcase.

"Whoa! Is that one of those magical cases?" Peter exclaimed. "You know, the ones that have entire rooms inside?"

"Those are very pricey…" Sirius recalled seeing one of those at his house.

"Did you spend all your savings on that?" Remus asked.

"Don't worry about that. Let's go inside." James had indeed spent every single Galleon in his name to buy this.

He had to wait until he was at Hogwarts and get it by owl because his parents would have complained about spending so much on one item.

But it was a necessary purchase in his opinion.

He descended the stairs and found himself in a small living room, roughly 10 by 10 feet in size. Two white doors could be seen, one on each side.

"Whoa! This is so cool!" Peter arrived first and looked around. "I can't believe we're inside a briefcase!"

"The wonders of magic." James said.

"There's nothing here, though," Sirius pointed out.

"I'm sure James has plans for it. Otherwise, he wouldn't have bought it," Remus added.

"I do have plans," James said.

"Is this going to be our secret hideout?" Sirius asked.

"But we already have one of those," Peter said. "The Shrieking Shack... although I wouldn't mind one without a murderous tree."

Remus flinched at the mention. For his friends, it was a nice secret house, but for him, it had a different meaning.

"I'm afraid this case is for personal use," James said as he opened the door on his left and looked inside.

Sirius was about to say something, but when he saw the contents of that room, he stopped. "What the…"

Becoming curious, Remus and Peter got closer so they could also see what it was.

The room was almost twice as big as the previous one and was filled with wooden shelves.

Most of them were empty, but some contained glass flasks with diverse substances inside.

"Are those potion ingredients?" Remus noticed immediately the similarities with the storage area of their Potions class, although he didn't recognize most of the labels on the shelves.

"They are," James said as he examined the shelves, making sure all the ingredients he had ordered were there. There wasn't much he could afford after buying the case and some basic tools, but it was a start.

Once he was finished, he moved to open the last door, with his friends following behind him.

This room was as big as the storage room but only contained a large desk with several utensils meant for potion-making.

"You bought yourself a portable laboratory for potions?" Sirius was in disbelief.

Last year, James hated Potions class as much as he did, if not more, and now he had wasted all his money so he could spend more time brewing potions.

Once more, James examined the utensils to make sure they were at least of acceptable quality and nothing was missing.

"That should do for now," he said.

There were still a lot more things he was going to need, but after the purchase of the briefcase and all the utensils, he didn't have much money left.

The materials needed for the experiments he truly wanted to perform were extremely expensive, so he had carefully chosen the materials he had purchased so he could use them to generate some income.

'I've never had the need to use my potion skills to make money… but I suppose there's a first for everything,' James thought.

Back then, he had access to the full Potter fortune, so he never had any need for that. But now things were different, and he had to start from scratch again.

However, James wasn't deterred by this. He instead saw it as a new opportunity to make even better things.

During his later years, he had been forced to leave several unfinished projects due to the decline in his health.

'I'll finish those, and perhaps I could make some new discoveries in the process,' he thought, feeling the excitement rushing through him as he looked at his new laboratory.

"Man… you've really become obsessed with potions," Peter commented after realizing the purpose of this expensive portable space.

"I do find it admirable that you're finally taking something seriously, at least," Remus said, nodding in approval. "I mean, other than Quidditch."

"There's nothing wrong with taking Quidditch seriously," Sirius retorted. "What if we can become professional players?"

Remus shrugged. "There's little chance of that happening. All I'm saying is that it's good James is finally taking an interest in something academic."

"Are you sure you're okay, James?" Peter had to ask.

"I haven't felt better in a long time," James responded with sincerity.

"Okay…" Sirius said. "But at least promise me that you'll use this lab to make something fun once in a while."

"Fun like what?" Peter asked.

"He means for pranking," Remus told him.

"Yeah, you know… like potions that change hair color or make your teeth grow large. We could use something like that," Sirius said with excitement, already imagining his next victims.

"That sounds simple. I can do that much," James told him. If it made his friend happy, he could take a bit of time for that.

"Yes!" Sirius shouted.

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