Gryffindor Tower
Hogwarts
The Marauders continued on for the rest of the week as usual. They gained a reputation from the rest of the school as the most mischievous, talented, and humorous boys in the school. On a Sunday, the Marauders were lounging around under the big beech tree near the lake when James said, "Let's do another prank."
Remus sighed. "We're going to get in trouble!" he said.
Sirius rolled his eyes, "You're such a wet blanket, Rems. I'm in!"
Peter also agreed. Remus said, "First you should plan your idea. I'll join if it's harmless."
James said, "Yeah, yeah. So, I think we should prank the Slytherins. I mean, we have around 3rd year level knowledge, shouldn't be that hard, eh mate?"
Sirius nodded. "Let's write our ideas down."
Peter said, "I have an idea. How about we sneak in their common room and pour some sticky glue all over? We can use wingardium leviosa to carry our supplies."
James and Sirius stared in shock. "Wow, Pete, I never knew you had such good ideas! Anyways, I think we could use some glittery red and gold glue and write, "Courtesy of the Marauders. No one know who we are, so we can sorta expand our known-ness," concluded Sirius.
Remus rolled his eyes, "Known-ness is not a word. You should say 'fame' or 'popularity.'"
Sirius waved him off. "So, how about it?"
James nodded. "I like the ideas, boys! When should we pull off our first prank as the Marauders?"
Peter said, "How about next week, on the full moon? Then it'll be creepier for the Slytherins."
Remus paled. "Um, guys, I can't do the prank with you."
James said, "But it's harmless!"
Remus said, "I know, but, uh, my mom is, like, really sick with this Muggle disease, so I need to go back, and visit her. It might be the last time I see her." Remus congratulated himself on his acting skills, and faked wiping a tear away.
James patted Remus on the back. "No worries, mate. We'll be here for you, always."
The other three boys went back to their plans, while Remus heard echoes in his head. We'll be here for you, always. Always... Remus sincerely doubted it. After all, who would want to be friends with a werewolf?
James bounded along the well-trodden path down to the Quidditch Pitch. "Hurry up, guys," he called to his friends. Sirius ran down the hill and joined James. "Aren't you so excited? I love Quidditch, and I really want to try out for the team next year. For Beater. It's so fun to just THWACK the ball and see the Slytherins get pounded, and crushed into powder, and then get smushed by us Gryffindor team, and then we boil the remains and pour it down the drain..."
James raised an eyebrow, slightly disturbed, "Um, that's a little disgusting, don't you think?"
Sirius shook his head. "Nah, I mean, just a teeny bit painful. Anyways, what position do you want to play?"
James perked up. "I would LOVE to play Chaser. Or Seeker. I'm good at both," he boasted.
The two boys arrived at the stadium and entered the Pitch, standing on the plush green grass. "Ahhhh..." they sighed in unison. Only a couple girls were there; Lily and her friends, Marlene McKinnon, Mary MacDonald, and Hestia Jones. James and Sirius purposefully stood a couple feet away from them.
Remus and Peter entered a couple minutes later.
"Slowpokes," mumbled James. Sirius grinned.
Once all the 1st year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws were there, a woman stalked out onto the pitch. She had piercing black eyes, and short black hair. "All right, 1st years. Welcome. I'm Madame Hooch. Please assemble into two lines, on the left of a broom."
There were a bunch of old-looking school brooms lying on the ground. James ran over to the closest one, and listened eagerly. "Now, put your right hand over the broom's handle, and say 'Up'. With power!"
James followed her instructions, and the broom zoomed into his hand immediately. He smirked proudly. Sirius managed it soon enough. Remus and Peter, however, were having a lot of trouble. Remus succeeded around his 20th try, and Peter just decided to pick up the broom.
It seemed out of Lily's friends, only Marlene was able to succeed.
Once everyone had their brooms in hand one way or another, Madame Hooch said, "Now, mount the broom."
She inspected everyone, and it took a long time for her to get to James. Once she arrived, though, she gave James one glance and said, "Perfect." James smiled widely, and saw Lily glowering at him as she struggled. James shot her a smirk.
Sirius was also deemed, "Great," after a couple corrections. Madame Hooch skipped Lily, Remus, Peter, and a lot of other people without a second glance.
"When I blow my whistle, you will push of with your feet. To go up, pull the handle up, To go down, angle the tip of the handle towards the ground. To turn left and right, turn in the direction you want to go. Three, two, one..." she blew the whistle.
Everyone rose above the ground. James and Sirius shot up and started performing tricks, showing off. They slapped five when they crossed five easily. Madame Hooch stared up amazedly.
"You two!" she yelled at James and Sirius, motioning at them to come down. They descended easily.
"What are your names?" she inquired.
"James Potter."
"Sirius Black."
"I think you two are good enough to be on the Quidditch team! There is a rule for no first years, though, but I shall talk to Dumbledore. But be sure to try out next year, definitely!" said Madame Hooch, impressed.
The two boys grinned with glee. They high-fived and jumped on the brooms and ascended again.
During the days preceding the full moon and the day of the prank, Remus became increasingly irritated. The day before, Remus was pale, sweating, and looked sick.
"Are you okay, Remus?" James asked gently. "I think you should go to the Hospital Wing."
Remus shook his head, then fell down onto the ground of their dorm. "That's it," James said firmly. "Sirius! Peter! Help me get Remus to the Hospital Wing!"
The boys carried and lugged Remus' frail body into the sickroom, receiving many awkward glances on the way. "Madame Pomfrey!" Sirius called, waving his free arm.
Madame Pomfrey appeared, then gasped. Without a word, she helped Remus onto a bed and closed the curtains around him. "Boys, please leave. I'm afraid Mr. Lupin is quite unwell. Go inform all of his teachers and the headmaster that Remus is unable to attend classes for the rest of today, tomorrow, and the day after."
The boys exchanged looks. "But Remus is supposed to visit his Muggle mom tomorrow!" Peter protested. Madame Pomfrey gave the boys a dark look. "Go!" she commanded.
The boys left grudgingly. "I hope Remus is okay!" said James dejectedly. Sirius thumped James on the back. "Cheer up! Our prank is tomorrow!"
James brightened up and smiled in delight. "I can't wait!" he declared.
The next day, the three boys were cheerier than usual. The other students exchanged nervous glances. The last time there was this suspicious behavior, a prank had occurred. James frowned. "Guys? Y'know our last prank? We were all jittery, and then we had a prank. So now... we're still happier than normal, they'll know immediately we're the Marauders."
Sirius grimaced, "Good point."
The three boys closed their eyes in the middle of Charms class, crossed their legs, held up their hands and started saying, "Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm."
Professor Flitwick squeaked, "Boys! This is not the time for meditating!"
Their eyes didn't open, but the noise became a lot quieter. Professor Flitwick sighed. All the teachers knew that the four would not listen, except Remus, maybe. But Remus was not there, so he could not control the others.
After dinner, the whole school was increasingly nervous. Every time they heard something or felt something, they screamed loudly. After all, the three boys had not pulled off the prank that they knew were coming! Some people started doubting there was a prank, though, and the behavior had been something to throw them off.
But, what did they know? James ushered the boys off to the dormitory, and locked the door with "Alohomora" and for precaution, "Silencio."
"Okay, boys. Sirius, grab the super-sticky glue and the pink dye. Pete, the glitter and get us our wands. And I shall present you with a most amazing object."
James rummaged in his trunk and pulled out a cloak. It looked like a water puddle with rainbow oil spills in it. James put on the cloak, and Peter and Sirius gasped. "You have an invisibility cloak?!" Peter screeched.
James grinned. "Uh-huh. So, Pete, my wand?" Peter gave Sirius and James their wands.
James performed a lighten charm on the glue, dye, and glitter. He motioned for the boys to gather together in a huddle. James threw the cloak over the three, and was relieved to see the cloak was big enough to cover all of them. He grabbed the dye from Sirius and they snuck down the stairs to the common room. There were still a lot of people up. They cautiously crept around the edge of the room to the portrait hole. James was thinking of a plan to open the door without anyone noticing, when the door opened on it's own. In walked the one and only Lily Evans.
The boys backed up quickly and Lily walked over to her friends. They edged out of the common room and proceeded to the dungeons. The halls were crowded, and James winced every time someone said, "Who's there?" when he, Peter, or Sirius accidentally nudged someone.
Finally, they arrived at the dungeons. The three boys waited near the entrance to the dungeons for a Slytherin. One appeared. It was, coincidentally, Severus Snape!
The three followed Snivellus through the dungeons and watched him approach a wide expanse of stone wall. He looked around for intruders, then said clearly, "Salazar." The wall slid open to reveal a glowing green-blue room. The door slid closed behind Snape, and the boys waited, dawdling, near the entrance. Once Sirius' watch beeped 1:00 A.M., James shook awake Peter, who had drifted into a light sleep. James whispered, "Salazar," and the wall opened. The boys slipped inside. James held back a sneer. The Slytherin common room seemed to be in the lake, underground. That was why there was such a ghostly, creepy glow. James recalled the Gryffindor common room, and felt contempt for this disgusting, slimy, Slytherin hole.
No one was in the room so James pulled the cloak off. Sirius slowly uncapped the super sticky glue and weaved in and out of the array of chairs and tables, tilting the jar so that the glue followed him. There was an endless trail of the yellow-orange substance, it seemed. While Sirius did this, Peter ran to the largest wall in the room, and James hoisted Peter onto his shoulders. Peter used a paintbrush to write in glittery red and gold, "COURTESY OF THE MARAUDERS. GRYFFINDOR RULES!" Then James let Peter down and ran to the dorms. He brought the Invisibility Cloak and tip-toed to each dorm, spreading the pink dye across each Slytherin's face. By the time he finished, it was 2:30 in the morning. James snuck back to the common room, took off the cloak, and was about to step down when Sirius whisper-screamed, "NO!"
James' toe was a centimeter away when he looked down. The floor was covered in gooey glue, and the walls were drizzled in it. James looked at Sirius, who was across the room with Peter, in a small patch of floor next to the entrance. James was stuck.
Sirius looked horrified, and said, "James! Don't move!"
He obediently followed Sirius' directions, after all, he couldn't move! Sirius took out his wand. James let out a sigh of relief, knowing Sirius was about to vanish the glue. But noooo.
Sirius was pointing his wand at James. "Wingardium Leviosa!"
James rose into the air started flying toward Sirius. Uh-oh, thought James. But happily, James arrived safely. He looked at their handiwork, then waved his wand. The glue was now camouflaged into the ground. James sighed in contentment. "Let's go!" he said quietly.
The three left the dungeons, and were running through the halls when Sirius heard footsteps. "Stop! Someone's here!" he hissed.
They skidded to a stop, and backed into a corner next to a tapestry. They heard Argus Filch say to his cat, "Is someone here, my dear?"
The figure rounded the corner, and headed straight towards the boys. Peter held back a squeak and leaned back against the tapestry and prepared himself for expulsion. But instead, Peter fell backwards through the tapestry and disappeared. Sirius and James looked at each other in panic. Then they dove together into the tapestry and disappeared. The two boys landed in a dirt tunnel, and started rolling downhill for a long time until they landed in a heap right on top of Peter.
"What the hell just happened?" croaked Sirius.
James grinned, "I think we just found a secret passage."
The boys continued on, and started going uphill, until James bonked his head on the ceiling. Peter tripped forward and hit a hard dirt wall. "Ow," they groaned in sync. Sirius laughed at them and reached his hands up. He touched a hard surface. Then, he pushed, and a faint light shone down at the boys.
Sirius hauled himself onto the floor and helped the others up. Then they looked around. It looked like they were on the 6th floor near the staircases. The place where they had emerged was a plain square tile on the floor, but there was a teensy navy blue button in the exact center. Sirius pressed it, and the tile immediately flipped up. The dirt tunnel was underneath. "Cool!" they whispered.
The boys quickly entered the Gryffindor common room and into their dorm. Just then, there was a loud, long howl outside. Peter peeked out, and didn't see anything. "There must be a werewolf out there," Pete said.
James frowned. "I hope Remus is okay... Nice job, guys! I can't wait until tomorrow morning!"
When the boys woke up, it was 6:00 in the morning, they only slept for three hours. They descended to the Great Hall and saw not many people were there, and not a single Slytherin. James, Sirius, and Peter exchanged evil grins.
They dawdled, eating a little bit of this, a little bit of that, until most of the school was there. Except, of course, the Slytherins.
Every single person in the school (excluding Remus) knew it was the handiwork of Sirius, James, and Peter. This is not what the Marauders wanted, after all, they didn't want to be known so quickly. So, the three put their heads together and decided to pull a back-to-back prank. James took out his wand and swept it around a couple times. Confused, the school followed his actions. Wasn't the prank for the Slytherins, since they weren't there?
James continued moving his wand arm wildly, faking spells. When everyone stared, transfixed, at James, Sirius and Peter angled their wand toward the ceiling under the table. They whispered something inaudible and the sky suddenly darkened and it started raining cats and dogs! Literally, there were cats and dogs. The cats scratched and screeched at the students, who started screaming. There were no gashes, though. The dogs bit ankles of the students, but there were also no wounds.
All at once, the animals vanished and the sky lightened. Everyone applauded loudly. Professor McGonagall marched up to the threesome and was about to yell. Then, there was a sudden commotion at the door. A whole crowd of pink Slytherins with yellow feet had entered. The Hall erupted into guffaws, roars, laughs, giggles, and pure hilariousness. The Slytherins at the front struggled to lift a foot and planted it on the floor. Then they forcefully lifted the other foot. In this way, the house proceeded to the table, and sat down, blushing.
All of a sudden, a 7th year Slytherin stood up. "Can I have your attention please?" he yelled.
It was suddenly deathly quiet. "Who are the Marauders?" he asked loudly.
Everyone looked suspiciously at James, Sirius, and Peter.
James said loudly, "It wasn't us. After all, who would pull off a back-to-back prank?"
Everyone started murmuring in agreement. The Slytherins glared at the Marauders. "Whoever it is, we will find you eventually!" thundered another boy.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Nuh-uh they won't. And guys, we really need to work on our skills, since everyone is so suspicious. And, I have another idea. Rems is back today!"
James and Peter's eyes widened, and, as one, they ran to the Hospital Wing. "Madame Pomfrey? Is Remus here?"
Madame Pomfrey appeared, looking exhausted. "Uh, yes, boys, but this isn't exactly the best time-"
The boys pushed past her and ran to the bed hidden in the corner.
"Bloody hell."
Remus was there, yes, but he looked tortured. No, worse. Remus looked like a sack of raw meat that had been ripped open in a ton of different places and been dropped a lot. James winced at the image, but it was the truth. Remus had cuts and gashes everywhere, and bruises the size of a football. (A/N: Remember this is England, so football is actually soccer.)
"Remus?" asked Peter.
Remus opened his eyes and gasped. "What are you doing here?"
James said, "We're visiting you. What happened?"
Remus seemed to hesitate for a fraction of a second, then said, "There was a huge, violent cat at my house that my parents got over the semester."
Sirius raised his eyebrows skeptically, "Must've been a big cat."
Remus nodded convincingly, "It was." Trying to change the subject, he added, "So how was the prank?"
The three boys' eyes lightened up.
"Oh my god, we found-"
"No one knows we're the Marauders, well, they do, but-"
"We had a back-to-back prank 'cause-"
Remus laughed. "Calm down. Start over one by one."
Sirius said, "I go first!" Then he told Remus about the secret passageway, and where it was, and about him levitating James across the glue.
James talked about pulling off the prank and the Invisibility Cloak.
Peter told Remus how they came up with the second prank and how no one knew they were the Marauders yet but were slightly suspicious.
Remus' mouth was wide open by the end of their tale. "You guys did all this? Whoa, that's so cool!"
James nodded happily. "Yep. So, Rems, when are you going to get out of the Hospital Wing?"
Remus shrugged. "Maybe tomorrow. Hey, did Madame Hooch get back to you guys about the Quidditch team?"
Sirius shook his head. "James and I decided to wait a year. You know, so we can get used to pranking, and then next year we'll try out, we'll make the team, and then we'll have parties after each game when we win..."
Sirius trailed off, and he and James gazed out of the window dreamily. Remus and Peter just laughed.
