Chapter Three: Hogwarts Express

James and Sirius rushed through the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10 at King's Cross Station and appeared on a crowded platform full of owls, cats, toads, parents and children, trunks, trolleys, and the Hogwarts Express. James turned to Sirius and smiled. They pushed their trolleys over to the train, surveying the crowds looking for the two missing Marauders. As James was searching the crowd he locked eyes with Lily Evans. She quickly turned away and talked to her parents, he noticed that her sister was not here to see her off.

"Prongs!" Sirius shouted into James's ear. "Will you stop mooning over Lily now."

James punched Sirius in the arm, "I was not mooning!"

"Yeah you were Mate."

"Hey James!" James turned to see Frank Longbottom coming towards them at a quick pace, his toad Trevor perched on his shoulder. "Organized tryouts yet?"

James laughed and patted Frank's shoulder, "Hold your horses Mate I only just got back. How did you even know?"

"If anyone was going to be Captain it had to be you!"

"How was your summer?"

"Good, got some good practice at a Quidditch camp mom sent me to…" Frank trailed off as he spotted a brown haired girl across the platform. "Let me know about tryouts!" He shouted back at James before running towards Alice MacMillan.

"Frank's got one up on you Prongs." Sirius said from behind James. "She snogs him."

James shoved Sirius and turned around. "I don't see Moony and Wormtail, let's go claim a car." James picked up the cage holding his owl and took out his wand to levitate his trunk as he boarded the Hogwarts Express.


Peter rushed through the corridor in the train looking for his friends. He had got to the station late and had only enough time to rush on board before the train started pulling out. He glanced in every compartment he passed on his way, none of them holding his friends. The next one he passed was full of some of the sixth year girls including Lily Evans. He stayed in front of the door trying to hear what they were saying.

"He came to your house?" Emmeline Vance of Ravenclaw asked.

"No, he was at the park by my house," Lily responded.

"Did you hex him?"

"No I did not hex him."

"Why not?"

There was silence from the compartment.

"Lily you're blushing!" He recognized this voice as Mary MacDonald of Hufflepuff.

"I am not!"

"Yes your checks are definitely red Lil'" Fellow Gryffindor Marlene McKinnon stated.

"He's different when he isn't with his gang, is all."

"Are you having a change of heart about James?"

There was silence in the compartment. Peter leaned into the door trying to catch any sound he could. Suddenly all of the girls burst out into fits of giggles. Peter turned around and started rushing through the halls itching to tell his friends what he had overheard. James had been frantic at the end of the year when Lily rejected him after the OWLs, he couldn't wait to give him the good news. He was so focused on finding his friends he was not paying attention to the corridor in front of him and knocked into someone, landing on his butt in the middle of the corridor. "Sorry 'bout that," he said as he got to his feet. He reached out a hand to help up the other person, only then realizing it was Serentity Williams from Hufflepuff. His hand got sweaty as she reached for it.

"That's alright, and thanks."

"N-no Problem," Peter stuttered.

"What are you doing all the way up here? I saw James and Sirius all the way in the back."

Peter rushed by her at the news, "Thanks!" he shouted over his shoulder as he ran to find his friends. He burst through the compartment door out of breath and staring at Sirius and James who has been reclining while playing a game of exploding snap.

"We thought you weren't going to make it?" James said with a grin.

"Chased by another cat?" Sirius asked with a smirk.

Peter took a moment to catch his breath as he sat down by Sirius. "When did you go see Lily?" he asked James.

James stared at him, "Who told you?"

"Overheard the girls talking about it."

"Damn."

Peter smiled. "Seemed like a good thing."

"What happened?"

"I don't know how to speak girlish giggles but I have come to believe they are a good thing going by how they treat Padfoot."

James got quiet as he looked at his friends, not quite sure how to react to this development. He hadn't spoken to Lily since the park, could this mean that she was changing her mind.

The compartment door opened as Remus walked in. "I swung the first prefect shift so sorry you didn't see me, had to help load everyone in you know."

"All those first years not knowing what to do…poor prefect Remus."

"Saw your parents Sirius. They were dropping off Reg."

"How's Reg?"

"Seemed alright."

"That's good."

"Alright so down to business, Moony please remove the badge." James said.

Remus laughed but took off his prefect badge and stuck it in his pocket. "Starting early this year are we?"

"Got to liven up the train ride for the firsties. Gather the supplies."

All four friends riffled through their pockets pulling out what they had on hand for the first Mischief of the year. They stared at the pile of prank essentials in front of them. They stared at each other. James pulled out his invisibility cloak, "I have an idea."


Lily was coming out of the bathroom when it started. Suddenly explosions started going off all over the train. A golden mist was starting to fill the corridors. It reminded Lily of the pixie dust from Peter Pan. Her feet started to leave the ground and she felt herself floating in the air, the only thing stopping her from continuing up was the ceiling of the train. She noticed that others were having the same weightless sensation as she was. She saw a group of first years giggling as they swam through the air as though it was water. She followed their lead and tried to make her way back to her compartment. There was a commotion farther back in the train that caught her attention so she made her way over there.

She passed many flying students, some were playing Quidditch without brooms, she dodged around racing friends, it was madness, but everyone was having fun. She caught a glimpse of a group of prefects joining in the frivolity. When they caught sight of her they started to try to bring order. She smiled at them and continued on her way.

In the next block of the train she noticed that the effects of the golden mist were different. There were no flying students. There were no students at all, the entire train was full of penguins with altered human voices. They were so focused on each other that they did not notice Lily hovering above them. She listened closely trying to recognize the voices, but she couldn't. She moved on, finally coming to the last compartment on the train. She opened the door only to find James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter hovering around whizzing paper balls all around the room.

"What have you guys done?"

They all froze in mid air staring at her. Sirius moved through the air to hover in front of her. "What on Earth to you mean?"

"Everyone is flying around, and there is a whole car full of penguins!"

"Penguins?" he asked sounding shocked.

"That's strange," voiced Peter.

Lily turned her attention to Remus, "What have you to say about this?"

Remus stared at her thoughtfully. "Who turned into penguins?"

Lily let out an exasperated huff. "How long will it last?" She was looking straight at James.

He locked eyes with her. "I would think it would be done before we reached Hogwarts. Might as well enjoy some fun?"

Lily turned around and left the compartment.


The Hogwarts express pulled into Hogsmeade Station and the students started to get off of the train. The spells had worn off twenty minutes previously. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter filed out and listened to everyone talking about their prank.

"Turned me into a blasted Penguin!" they heard a deep voice muttering to his friends.

The four friends laughed as they made their way through the crowds. They came up to a huge man in the middle of the station.

"Hello boys!"

"Hagrid!" All of them shouted.

"What's this about penguins on the train?"

"I think some people must have had strange dreams or something," Sirius said with a smirk.

Hagrid laughed a booming laugh. "Stay out of trouble why don't you."

"Us?" James said.

"We're angels." Chimed in Peter.

Hagrid laughed a waved at them as they made their way through the crowds towards the carriages. They could hear Hagrid shouting in the distance, "First Years this way!"

The gang smiled at each other, it was good to be back.


A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading. Please Review and let me know what you think or any suggestions you have. I would love to hear from you. Special thanks to Kazo Sakamari for being my first reviewer on this story. Loved hearing from you and hope this chapter had at least a little mischief from all of the Marauders for you :) ~LittleMiss