The year is 1978. James Potter just like Severus Snape, Lily Evans and many others, prepares to face life outside Hogwarts. The battle initiated in the mid 70's has no sign of ending and Lord Voldemort's power gets stronger and stronger with time. Now the older students must make the choice that will define the rest of their lives. But choose wisely, greatness can not be confunded by weakness.

The Marauders' strong friendship began in their first or possibly second year at Hogwarts. By their fifth year, all but Remus Lupin, who was a werewolf, had secretly become unregistered Animagi in order to assist Remus during his transformations. James Potter's Animagus form was a shining red stag (Prongs), Sirius Black's was a shaggy black dog (Padfoot), and Peter Pettigrew's was a fat grey rat (Wormtail).
As 'Padfoot' and 'Prongs,' Sirius and James were large enough to control Remus (Moony) during his monthly transformations into a werewolf. 'Wormtail' (Peter) was small and nimble enough to get past the Whomping Willow's defences, so the group could get to the Shrieking Shack. The Marauders were frequently out of their beds at night, and explored Hogwarts' grounds and the village of Hogsmeade during their transformations.
In the period between their fifth and seventh years at Hogwarts, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter created the Marauder's Map, a small, bewitched roll of parchment that displayed the castle grounds and inhabitants of Hogwarts - including all staff, ghosts and students - in great detail. At an unspecified point, Hogwarts caretaker Argus Filch confiscates the map and keeps it in a drawer in his office labelled 'Classified and Highly Dangerous'. Fred and George Weasley stole the map in their first year, and later passed it on to Harry Potter in 1993. Harry has been the sole owner of the map since then.

The Marauders were a group of four Gryffindors and classmates: Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter. The four attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1971-1978. They had a knack for rule-breaking and mischief making. The Marauders would all go on to fight in the First Wizarding War and some in the second. They were also participants in the original Order of the Phoenix, an organisation lead by Albus Dumbledore in the struggle against the Dark Lord, Voldemort.

The Marauders were all members of Gryffindor House, and greatly despised their Slytherin enemy, Severus Snape. James and Sirius often bullied him, (calling him 'Snivellus' and using humiliating spells on him), while Peter cheered them on. Although he greatly disapproved of their bullying, Remus did not try to stop them, something he feels deeply regretful of later on.

All of the Marauders died whilst protecting Harry Potter from Voldemort or his Death Eaters, including Peter Pettigrew. Peter did not kill Harry because of a life debt he owed him. As a result, Harry was able to escape and was saved from further torture of him or his friends.

The Order of the Phoenix was a secret society founded by Albus Dumbledore to oppose Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The original Order was created in the 1970s. It was constructed after Voldemort returned to England from abroad and started his campaign to take over the Ministry of Magic and persecute Muggle-borns. The Order worked with the Ministry to oppose the Dark Lord and his followers, and played a crucial role in the First Wizarding War. Victory came in 1981, with Voldemort's first defeat at the hands of Harry Potter. Victory came with the high cost of many of their members.

The Order of the Phoenix was founded by Albus Dumbledore during Lord Voldemort's first rise to power in the 1970s. Dumbledore formed the Order to combat Voldemort's increasing threat and power. Aurors from the Ministry of Magic also joined the Order to participate in more secretive, sudden assaults aimed to crush the Dark Rebellion. Dumbledore created a method of communication among Order members by inventing a way to make Patronuses speak.

Although the Death Eaters had been attacking mostly Muggles and Muggle-borns to spread terror, they soon turned to attacking "blood traitors" such as Order members as well. Fabian and Gideon Prewett were murdered by a group of six Death Eaters led by Antonin Dolohov. Caradoc Dearborn disappeared, the Bones family was almost completely destroyed, Benjy Fenwick was brutally murdered, and Marlene McKinnon and her family were murdered by Death Eaters, including Travers. Even as the Order suffered great losses, they continued to fight, and four of their members — James Potter, Lily Potter, Frank Longbottom, and Alice Longbottom — defied Voldemort himself three times.

The Death Eaters was the name given to followers of Lord Voldemort. The group primarily consisted of wizards and witches who were radical pure blood supremacists, who practised the Dark Arts with reckless abandon and without regard to or fear of wizarding law. They were a mixture of the weak seeking protection, the ambitious seeking glory, and the thuggish seeking a leader who could show them more refined cruelty, and were considered to be forerunners of the Death Eaters since most (if not all) indeed became the first Death Eaters.