"What, exactly, are you proposing, Mister Potter?"
Minerva McGonagall stood in the front of her classroom, facing four boys who seemed intent on making trouble.
James ran a hand through his hair. "We're saying that for once, we aren't planning on breaking the rules."
McGonagall took off her glasses and placed them on the desk behind her. "So," she said, sighing, "you want to do what, exactly?"
Remus stepped in front of James. "We were wondering if it was against the rules to levitate our beds through the school after curfew."
"Absolutely not," said McGonagall. "Students are not allowed out in the corridors after curfew."
"Actually, Minerva, my dear, students are not allowed out of bed after curfew," interjected Sirius. "That is the rule, is it not?"
"Yes, Mister Black, but –"
"But," interrupted James, "if we weren't to leave our beds while we levitated them, then we would still be in the beds."
"Mister Potter –"
"It's a loophole!" Peter squeaked from behind them.
"The rule, Mister Pettigrew, was designed to keep students from wandering about the school after curfew," McGonagall said sharply. "One should not try to break them, nor is it wise to ask a teacher about breaking them!"
"Yes, but we aren't technically breaking them," said Sirius, slinging his arms around Remus' and James' shoulders.
"Yes, Mister Black, however –"
"The rule specifically said that students are not allowed out of bed after curfew. We won't be out of bed after curfew. So we're okay, right?" Remus asked, trying to detangle himself from Sirius.
"Mister Lupin, what do you even plan on doing while you levitate the beds if you were to do so?" McGonagall asked.
Sirius and James exchanged glances. "It's not about what we are going to do, it's more about the concept of our ability to do this," explained James with a grin.
McGonagall looked at them with a slight twinkle in her eye. "Let's say this: you stay within the bounds of the rules as they are defined, and we will talk again tomorrow after class."
She received four wide grins as the four boys turned to leave the classroom. "Oh, and Mister Potter?"
"Yes, ma'am?"
"It might be better that we keep this conversation between the five of us."
"Of course! See you tomorrow!"
As the sound of their running feet faded, McGonagall turned to her desk with a smile, knowing that she would definitely be speaking with them again later that evening, after curfew.