I hope I've caught all the mistakes, but if I haven't, if you see any inconsistencies, please let me know.


~ Chapter I ~


It was not two weeks into the school year that Potter and Black were considered to be inseparable. They were certainly always seen together, plotting, laughing, talking. The others couldn't know the extent of their ambitions, but yes, Sirius and James had great plans, and they were determined to go through with them. There was one obstacle, though, and it was that they still had much to learn. Oh, they were fast learners, one of the best in their class, but school kept them occupied only to a certain point; and even McGonagall's demanding lessons could not keep them from getting bored.

Boredom and this duo. McGonagall didn't know a worse combination. They were great students if they just bothered to concentrate for more than ten minutes; and she wouldn't have minded their boredom if they didn't provoke each other into pulling nonsense in her class. Gryffindor lost points almost every class, and gained them back almost as quickly. McGonagall knew a threat when she saw it, and she knew these two boys would cause only more trouble unless they were challenged more.

But of course Dumbledore would hear none of it. Arguing with him about this was like trying to part the sea with one's bare hands, but he would not have it: Potter and Black were to stay together. Typical. He did not have to deal with Potter and Black every single day.

It also did not help that this early in the first schoolyear there was little to keep the students occupied. More than one had dared to step a foot into the Forbidden Forest. A few had even tried to challenge the Whomping Willow. There was magic done in the corridors despite it being forbidden. Children played with each other, pranked each other - cursed each other, but none of them were as loud and obvious about it as Sirius Black and James Potter.

Sirius and James were rarely seen in the library. This surprised everyone, because how else did they come up with these pranks? How did two eleven-year olds discover to turn water into ice, promptly flooding the lavatories near the Great Hall to do something as silly as sledding? It was such a complicated thing for first-years, especially considering that their first prank had involved stink bombs and a group of Slytherins. That had cost them their first detention: polishing the medals and cups in the Trophy room. Together. A mistake many teachers would repeat in the future.

The 'sledding' had earned them their second detention: two weekends cleaning the toilets without the help of a wand. It was a disgusting job, neither enjoyed it particularly, but time passed quickly when one was in good company, and Sirius decided that James was the best company anyone could have; and James, well, James Potter could find enjoyment even in detention – a tendency none of his friends (and they would multiply as two became four) would catch on.

Any other teacher would have silenced them (they would not stop chatting), but the professor supervising them was none other than the teacher for Care of Magical Creatures – and elderly man that reminded James of his father, because nothing was ever too serious that he couldn't laugh about it. He also taught Sirius and James a spell to make water gurgle so that it seemed as if it talked, making the task of cleaning toilets, while not less dirty, a lot more fun.

His name was Professor Larkin, and the two boys quickly decided that he was their favourite of all the teachers in Hogwarts.

And so their first month at Hogwarts (a magical place in more ways than one) passed: with two Howlers and two detentions.

And then October happened. In Charms, the 1st years learned to levitate – a spell that Sirius and James mastered within minutes (and Remus, poor Remus, couldn't help but feel a slight pang of jealousy: he had set his feather on fire on his first try) and Hagrid's pumpkins were growing like mad.

"Do pumpkins want to dance?" James mused one early afternoon as the two (and they were always two by then) marched to pay Hagrid a visit.

Sirius pursed his lips (a habit much like his mother's, only less resentful) and followed James's intent gaze. The round large pumpkins. Glowing like red in the setting sun. The sky was wiped clear of any clouds, which came as no surprise: the wind was very strong that day and made the trees howl.

Sirius snorted and asked, "What makes you think that?"

James shrugged and dragged a hand through his messy raven hair. "Dunno," he said. "I'd be bored lying around like that all day, every day."

Sirius cocked his head, then nodded as if this thought was very obvious. "I suppose… their most exciting day must be Halloween for them. It's the only time of the year where they get to do anything fun."

Their eyes met.

"You don't think…" James's voice faded as if the sudden burst of wind was carrying it away.

"… we could do something about it?" Sirius paused, not moving his eyes from their locked position in James's eyes. He pursed his lips again. "We could… search for a spell in your mother's book…"

"To make the pumpkins dance?" James grinned and he began to fidget (James Potter always fidgets when he is excited.) "We also need to find a spell to carve them!"

An excited glint appeared in Sirius Black's eyes, "We have to make them better than folk usually do," he said. "None of the boring stuff."

"Like faces?" James had a pensive look on his face.

"Yes, we could make-"

"Unicorns."

"Dragons."

"And trolls!"

"And McGonagall as a cat!"

"And Slughorn: a slug with a horn!"

Sirius laughed and together they went to Hagrid's. Neither of them could sit still, and Hagrid found them very endearing with their matching lose ties, Potter's large round glasses and Black's loud laugh.

"Hagrid," James asked as he casually slipped a cookie into his pocket; "do you know who carves the pumpkins for the Halloween feast?"

"That'd be the house elves."

The two boys brightened. James stood up on his chair.

"There are house elves in Hogwarts?" he cried. He lowered his cup of tea. "Wait, of course there are house elves in Hogwarts-"

"That explains why we haven't seen who cleans up after us," Sirius said, nodding, and sipping his tea. Too hot, he concluded, and lowered the cup. "House elves shouldn't be seen or heard."

"Aye, well…" Hagrid said, shrugging. "Most of 'em are never seen anyway. 'Course, some people eventually find out where the kitchens are."

James gasped, but Sirius would not let himself be distracted now. The kitchens he filed away for another time. It wasn't like they would starve if they didn't find them soon.

"Are there any things planned for Halloween?"

Hagrid furrowed his brows. "Things? What things?"

"You know, fun things," said Sirius with a light shrug.

"Yeah, do you know if we get the day off? Feels like a waste of time to go to class on Halloween. We don't have school on Christmas!" James said.

Hagrid laughed. "Nah, ye don' get the day off!"

Sirius and James deflated. "So no fun things planned for Halloween?"

Hagrid couldn't bear to see them disappointed. He nudged Sirius consolingly, meaning Sirius almost fell off his chair. "Ey, just 'cause there's no fun planned, doesn' mean ye can't've fun yerselves."

Sirius and James looked at each other. Two broad, toothy grins split their mouths. Hagrid couldn't have known what would come next. He was not to blame for the mischief that would come. However, the question does arise whether he would have stopped them had he known what they were up to.


While the students of Hogwarts continued their day to day life, Sirius and James continued to plot. They paid attention during classes, until they didn't. McGonagall, frustrated that Dumbledore had refused to listen to her, lost her patience.

"Potter!" she snapped. "Name three of the five Principal Exceptions of Transfiguration!"

Potter turned to face her. His glasses slipped down his nose and he pushed them up with his fingers. "Er, you can't make something out of thin air, you can't turn something into nothing, and... er… well, what's dead can't be turned alive."

The few giggles were immediately silences by McGonagall's stern look.

"Describe the wand movement of last week's spell."

"It's like this," he said and waved his wand. The pin needle transformed. Somewhere in the classroom a pupil couldn't hold his gasp.

"I see," McGonagall said. "Come see me after class, Potter."

"Okay," he said, exchanging a frown with Sirius. That worried McGonagall. He didn't look concerned enough.

The rest of the hour passed on as usual: Potter and Black would not stop chatting; Andrews and Bates would not stop giggling; Pettigrew could still not get the spell right.

As the students began to file out (excited, because it was lunch time), James Potter approached McGonagall's desk.

"Does my class bore you?" she asked as she went through her notes. She wasn't really, but she wanted to see what his reaction would be.

James Potter was too stunned for words. "Er… no," he said.

She gave him a stern look over the rim of her glasses. "No. Are you sure?"

James Potter said nothing.

"If you were not bored you and Mr. Black would not disrupt my class so often."

James Potter shifted his weight from one leg to the other and back to the other. He slung his bag over his shoulder and nodded, then shrugged.

"Again, are you bored in my class, Potter?"

James hesitated, he nodded. "Sometimes," he admitted.

"Hmpf." McGonagall's lips formed a thin line, but not as thin as when she was really angry. "Alright then," she said and scribbled something down on a piece of parchment. "I expect you to read this and write me a summary until next class."

James almost dropped the note. "W-what?" he stammered. "But—Professor-"

"If you're bored in my class, Potter, I will do everything to keep you occupied," she said, eyebrows slightly raised. It was undoubtedly a dismissal. James was too stunned to give a reply. He was out of the classroom and well on his way to the bristling full Great Hall, before he realised it. A scowl, a pout, crossed his features; were he an overly emotional person he might have lost his appetite. But, being a growing eleven year old boy, he joined Sirius at the table where his friend had saved him a seat by his side.

"You in trouble, mate?" Sirius asked and took a bite of his food.

James looked down at the parchment. The title of the book was written in neat handwriting – even the shelf number was written down. Unfair. He wondered what McGonagall would do if he didn't pick up the book.

"McGonagall gave me extra homework," he grumbled.

"What?" Sirius snatched the note from his fingers. James began to fill his plate. He took a look around. There on their left was Frank Longbottom, speaking with two other blokes. James liked him; he'd helped them find the way to their first Potions class. On their other side was that redhead, Lily. Evans. She was talking with two girls, Marlene and Dareen. Odd. Usually she spent her time with that greasy-haired Slytherin Snivellus Snape. James didn't know if he liked Lily or disliked her, but he knew he couldn't stand the sight of Snape; and it wasn't just him: Sirius didn't like him either.

Sirius threw the parchment back on his lap with a derisive snort. "That's not fair," he said and took another bite from his food.

"I know!" he replied and gulped down the rest of his pumpkin juice. "It's not just us who speak during class!"

"No, but you're the only ones who never stop," someone said.

James and Sirius turned their heads. It was Remus Lupin. They completely missed he was there, but that might be because he'd just appeared behind a massive book.

Remus Lupin seemed as surprised as they, if not more. His ears turned red and the flush spread over to his cheeks. Sirius and James exchanged a look. They turned back to odd pale Remus Lupin who wished he was anywhere else but there.

James crooked a brow. "And who asked you, Lupin?"

Remus' lips tightened and he went back to staring at his book. "Just saying…" he mumbled. He reached blindly for his cup and missed it.

"You're just jealous because McGonagall doesn't think you're good enough for extra homework," Sirius sneered.

Remus scrunched his brows. "Why would I want extra homework?" he retorted, hand finally reaching his cup. "I can barely keep up with what we already have?"

"How? You spend more time in the library than everyone else together."

"Not true," he mumbled.

Sirius shrugged. "You take homework too seriously."

"Well, how else am I supposed to pass?" he snapped, surprising the two with his vehemence.

"By having fun once in a while," Sirius said, finger tracing lazily the rim of his cup. "You don't need to get an O in everything. Seriously, who even cares about Astronomy?"

"I do!" Remus said, glaring at them over the book. "With the homework we just got for Charms and Transfiguration… and I, I suck at Potions! And now I'm going to miss Astronomy now too and-"

James shook his head. "Wait," he said, "why would you miss Astronomy? It's on Thursday night."

Remus's mouth clung shut and he turned a sickly grey. "N-nothing," he stammered and hid behind his book again.

James's eyes widened. "You plan on skipping?" he gasped. "Do you have a hide-out?"

"W-what? No! I would never!" Remus looked away. "It's… it's my mum. She's sick."

James's initial annoyance with prim-and-proper Remus Lupin faded almost instantly. His hand twitched, almost grasped for Sirius's; he suddenly missed his mother a lot. He should write to her again soon.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said and meant it.

Remus didn't answer, didn't even look up.

"How long will you be gone?" James asked.

Remus lifted a shoulder. "As long as I need to be," he said tightly. He paused, before coming to a decision, then began to pack his things. He rushed out of the Great Hall. Sirius and James watched him leave. Not a minute passed, before the two were eating again.

"Odd that Remus bloke," Sirius said.

"Poor man," sighed James, and sounded then a lot like his father. "Not wonder he's like that with his mum being sick…"

"Must be a serious illness," Sirius observed, the end of the fork tapping against his chin. "He wouldn't be leaving if it wasn't."

James nodded slowly, eyes on his food. "Do you think I should write to my mum about Remus?" he asked. "My parents know people. Maybe they can help."

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know," he replied and eyed the parchment with the book title. "So, are you going to do the extra homework or not?"

James smiled crookedly. "Why, you volunteering?"

Sirius snorted and pushed the hair from his forehead. "I've better things to do," he yawned and nudged him. "Have you forgotten about our mission already?"

"Of course not!" James stared at his friend in disbelief. "But… mum's book has no spell for this…"

Sirius groaned. "Don't say it…"

James shrugged. "I've to go to the library anyway, mate. Might just get it over with now, and check if there's anything useful for us there."

Sirius did not look appeased in the slightest, but conceded and got on his feet with the dignity of a conquered king. "Alright," he sighed. "Let's get this over with."


Author's notes:

Btw, the Five Exceptions of Transfiguration I got from the Harry Potter lexicon, which I recommend looking into. The text only says that one exception is that food can't be made out of thin air - which makes me think that you can't use magic to make nothing into something. Seriously, I wish J.K. Rowling would give us more details on how these things work.