Third Year
Teddy Lupin woke up on September first in a good mood. Today he would see his friends and travel on the Hogwarts Express to the place he almost considered his true home. He loved Hogwarts and his friends. He had seen them briefly both at Diagon Alley to get school supplies and ice cream a few weeks ago, and a few weeks before that they had spent the night at James' house for Murphy's birthday.
Teddy dutifully ate the cold cereal that his grandmother made him eat every morning. He then went and changed out of his quidditch pajamas into a pair of yellow overalls and a red tank top. He decided that blue hair would top off the primary color scheme and went with it as he grabbed his trunk and met his grandmother at the door. He wasn't sure they were dressed like muggles even if she had gotten their clothes at a muggle store. She was dressed in a white collared dress of sorts with white panty hose and shoes. She also had a funny little hat that was white on too. He had neglected the red hat that went with his red shirt. It looked stupid and didn't fit right.
His grandmother shrunk his trunk and put it in her bag and they set off through London toward King's Cross. On the way, commuting muggles gave them funny looks and Teddy felt a bit uncomfortable, but it seemed to happen every year. He liked his hair blue, what could he say. He thought he heard a lady murmur freaks as they passed, but he couldn't be sure, and he honestly didn't care. His grandma was humming a Cecilia Warback tune and was oblivious to the muggles around them.
When they arrived at the station, they quickly made their way to Platform 9 ¾. Once they had passed through, Teddy immediately spotted a herd of Weasleys and Potters, they were hard to miss. Their red hair stood out on the platform like a beacon. He saw Victoire Weasley and smiled at her when she noticed him. She frowned and stuck her tongue out. Well she was still mad at him for the pretend love letters from the fifth year Ravenclaw Prefect they had sent her over the summer. Honestly he had only written them. He glanced to see Hermione and Ron Weasley with their two children Rose and Hugo. Rose was a first year this year along with James' brother Albus. James and Teddy had teased Al all summer about being in Slytherin. The poor boy was terrified. The Potters were saying their final goodbyes to each other so Teddy said goodbye to his grandma and hopped on the train to snag a compartment.
He grinned when he spotted Murphy walking into a compartment. His reddish blond hair was hard to miss and so Teddy rushed to the compartment. It wasn't long before Orion and James joined them completing the marauders. The boys dutifully waved out the window as the train pulled out of the station before focusing their attention.
"You look like a muggle Fireman," said James to Teddy finally looking at him and laughing. "Where did your grandma find that!" Teddy scowled realizing he was once again wearing a crazy muggle outfit due to his grandma's stupidity. The rest of the boys laughed and Teddy started getting his robes out of his bags.
"The time has come," announced Orion interrupting them in a serious voice. "To reunite the Marauders for another year of fun filled pranking, maraudering, and all around greatness." The boys opened their bags and pulled out their respective Marauders items. Orion nodded and there were five books on the floor of the compartment next to each other.
"What's this one, Orion?" asked Murphy pointing to the fifth book that Orion had added to the pile.
"It's the Official Marauder Scrapbook that I made over the summer with all the pictures I have ever taken of us and our pranks. Our first two years are entirely recorded, and I'm going to find a charm that makes it expandable in case we ever run out of room."
"I didn't know you were so crafty," laughed Teddy looking at the blue covered book with the words "Official Marauder Scrapbook" on the front along with a picture of the four boys by the lake the first week of school their first year.
"I love wizarding pictures, with my mom around, we don't have many," said Murphy opening the book. The four boys gathered around and Orion smirked with pride at his handiwork.
"You sure spent a lot of time on this Orion," said James looking at the pages of pictures and comments that Orion had added in with his messy handwriting.
"I was bored, what can I say," said Orion smugly. "It's something for us to talk about on the train." And so they did. The boys spent the entire train ride laughing about the pranks they had pulled and the fun they had had during their first two years at Hogwarts.
"Remember when we charmed the doors to change everyone into their house colors and the slytherins were that nasty green with red hair. It's Filch as a slytherin! I entirely forgot how horrible he looked!" It was definitely a good addition to their collection of Marauders things.
When the boys finally reached Hogsmead, James ran off really quickly to wish his brother a sincere good luck with the sorting before the boys got into their carriage and went up to the castle. They found their seats where they always sat in the middle of the gryffindor table and waited for the sorting to begin. This year they actually cared about the sorting and looked anxiously for Al amid the first years when they finally crowded into the hall.
"There he is, next to Rosie," said James pointing him out. James grinned and waved to them before giving them a thumbs up. In no time at all the sorting had begun. They weren't to the P's yet when James perked up.
"Malfoy, Scorpius." Called Professor Longbottom.
"That kid is the son of my dad's worst enemy in school. He's also Farty Greengas's cousin. He'll be in Slytherin for sure," said James pointing to the small blond first year approaching the sorting hat. He sat on the stool for about a minute before the sorting hat called out "GRYFFINDOR!" James gasped as did a few others. The boy simply went to the table and sat down amid the bewildered clapping.
Soon it was "Potter, Albus." being called to the sorting stool. He created a roar from the gryffindor table when the hat sorted him into his brother's house. "WE GOT ANOTHER POTTER!" chanted some sixth years. James smiled and waved to his brother who sat down next to the Malfoy boy with a relieved smile.
"Weasley, Rose." Was one of the last names to be called, and James could tell that Al was on the edge of his seat for this one. His brother really wanted his favorite cousin to be with him in gryffindor, and he wasn't let down. The small curly red haired girl soon flounced over to sit next to her cousin.
Before dinner began, Professor McGonagall made a brief speech about no Weasley Wizarding Wheezes, no going in the forbidden forest, blah blah blah, the marauders weren't listening. Soon they were headed back to their dorm where they stowed the Marauder items under James' bed and went to sleep for their first night of third year.
The next morning the four sleepy boys went to the great hall and awaited their schedules. They knew that they had signed up for new classes this year. Teddy had signed up for Ancient Ruins with Professor Crabbe, Arithmacy with Professor Vector, Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid. James had signed up for Arithmacy, Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Ruins, and Muggle Studies. He figured he needed that class and that Teddy should have been taking it too, but Teddy was worried about taking too many classes because he actually studied. He was just happy that his schedule had worked out and he would be able to take all of the classes. Orion was taking Care of Magical Creatures, Muggle Studies with Professor Burbage, and Divination with Firenze the Centaur. He mostly took Divination because Murphy was taking it and it was rumored to be no work. Murphy was in the same classes as Orion, and they were sure to be causing trouble in them.
The boys were used to their old classes but the new ones… well.. they were different. Professor Crabbe was the fattest teacher in the school. Apparently she couldn't make it to the great hall very often which was why they had never seen her, but James and Teddy always smirked when walking into her class. She was so fat that there was a joke that a broom couldn't even lift her. Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid was either really easy or really scary. He either gave them easy book work and easy animals, or he forced a really dangerous animal on them saying that it was harmless. Divination was a joke according to Orion and Murphy. The teacher loved Orion since he was named after a constellation and he was pretty creative when it came to making stuff up. Muggle Studies was a snap because they had Murphy to tutor them. His mom being a muggle he was good with that stuff. Arithmacy was pretty easy and basically math. That is why James and Teddy liked it. It was actually very little magic and mostly had to do with codes like ancient ruins.
Two weeks later James once again stood on the quidditch pitch with his Firebolt 3. Orion had a French broom called an Eiffel and Murphy was hugging his Valorian. They were trying out for the positions of chaser, beater, and keeper respectively. Teddy sat in the stands watching alongside Professor Longbottom and Professor McGonagall who was a staunch Gryffindor quidditch supporter. He looked a little uncomfortable scrunched between the two professors, but James, Orion, and Murphy weren't really paying attention.
"Hello folks, I'm the new gryffindor team captain. The name's Trevor Banks, and I'm a sixth year chaser this year. We have four open spots on the team this year, we need two chasers, a keeper, and a beater. I'm the only chaser left from last year, and Webster over there is the lone beater. Vivia Paladoris here is our fifth year seeker. How about we do a couple laps around the field with everyone so I can see how you fly as a group and then we'll have some smaller groups go around. I want everyone to go around the field and weave between the poles and around the stands." The group mounted and got up in the air before Banks blew his whistle and they took off.
After the flying evaluations, Banks had them group together into what position they were seeking. James stood amid a group of chasers. No one else from his year was trying out, but there was a very big looking fourth year guy, three fourth year girls, two fifth year girls, and a fifth year guy that looked very muscular. He looked at his small muscles and realized he was a lot smaller than these older kids. Last year the size difference hadn't fazed him, but not making the team had changed him. He was a little less certain.
The chaser try outs and keeper try outs were to take place at the same time. First, Trevor Banks would get five shots on the keeper. If they saved three or more shots, then they got to continue. The rest were told to leave the pitch. Murphy sent James a thumbs up. He had saved four out of five and none of the other keepers had saved five out of five. Only half of the original eight keepers were left and Murphy was one of them. James smiled at him before snapping to attention as Banks called the chasers up into the air.
The chasers were to do some drills where they passed the ball around, and then they divided up into teams of three with Banks and played each other trying to capture the ball from each other. James was especially pleased when he intercepted a pass from Banks to the fifth year boy with the muscles. After about twenty minutes of this, the captain called them all down. Two of the fourth year girls were weeded out along with the muscled fifth year boy. Trevor looked a bit sad as he eliminated the fifth year and James guessed they were friends. The guy wasn't very good though, and James knew that he already like Banks for this. He respected him for being able to do the hard thing that was best for the team.
Then the remaining five chasers were going to make five shots at each of the four remaining keepers. The first two keepers had saved three of Banks' shots, but they each only saved two of James' which made him feel pretty good about himself. He could tell that Banks was grinning. Murphy was a tough keeper. He watched so much quidditch with his dad that he could read a chaser and tell where he was going with the shot. James was happy to get one shot past his friend. He was the only trying out chaser to in fact get a shot past Murphy, as Murphy shut out all of the others.
"AND FINNIGAN SHUTS OUT ALL OF THE HOPEFUL CHASERS EXCEPT THE SINGLE ELUSIVE SHOT BY POTTER THAT SLID INTO THE LEFT RING! WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE IRISH KESTRALS FAN WHOSE OWL IS NAMED AFTER O'HARE A FAMOUS KESTRALS KEEPER!" shouted Teddy from the stands cheering for his friends with a humorous commentary. James smiled and faced up the final keeper, landing two shots on her.
Meanwhile, unbeknown to the chasers and keepers trying out, Trevor had asked the beaters to try out with Webster. Apparently Trevor trusted the beater who had been on the team for as long as he had and was a good friend. It had been a toss up for the captains spot, but Webster had been made a Prefect so Trevor had been made captain.
Soon Webster, Banks and the seeker who had observed the try outs too met on the pitch and conversed quietly for a few minutes. They each nodded in turn before they went to the group of hopefuls remaining on the field.
"After talking with my team mates we had all come to the same decisions. We had a lot of very good candidates for each position, but we are very happy with our selections and hope all of you that didn't make the team will come out to every game and cheer for us. My first selections will be that of chasers. Olivia Gump and James Potter, congratulations!" James smiled as he stepped forward.
"POTTER AND GUMP MAKE THE TEAM. NO DOUBT THEY WILL LEAD THE LIONS TO UNTOLD VICTORIES WITH THEIR FABULOUS TRIO OF BANKS GUMP AND POTTER!" shouted Teddy from the stands. Even the chasers who had been cut smiled. James looked over to see that Olivia was the pretty fourth year girl with red hair and blue eyes.
"Now, the keeper position was very difficult also, but after proving himself Murphy Finnigan deserves the spot. Congratulations Murphy."
"AND FINNIGAN WILL BE KEEPING FOR GRYFFINDOR THIS SEASON. TO ANY FUTURE QUIDDITCH PLAYERS, NAME YOUR OWLS AFTER FAMOUS PLAYERS THAT HAVE THE POSITION YOU PLAY! IT'S A GUARUNTEE!"
"And finally, I was watching the beater try outs from a distance, and will agree with Webster's decision. Orion Black is our new beater. I think we will have a really great team this year and thank you to everyone who had the guts to come out here and try out. Each of you did very well and I will keep in mind anything I noticed in cases of injuries or suspensions on the team which we hopefully won't have to deal with. If those on the team could join me in the locker room for a brief talk that would be great."
"AND BLACK COMPLETES THE TEAM! WHAT AN EXCITING TRY OUT! THE RED AND GOLD SUPPORTERS HAVE AN AMAZING SEASON TO LOOK FORWARD TO SO LOOK OUT EVERYONE ELSE. THE LIONS WITH THEIR YOUNG TEAM WILL BE GOING FOR THE CUP!"
"Thanks Lupin!" called Trevor up to Teddy who was smiling at his three friends who had made the team. The only sad part for him was that he would have to sit by himself at all the matches. Gryffindor had been fairly good the past two years, getting second in the quidditch cup to Ravenclaw both years, and the four boys had enjoyed attending the games together.
James, Orion, and Murphy slung their brooms over their shoulders, grinning like madmen as they trooped into the locker room. Webster was leaning against a locker and Paladoris the slim seeker was tucked neatly into his side. They were obviously a couple. Trevor stood in front of bench, so the three boys followed Olivia as she sat on the bench.
"Congratulations. Each of you were amazing out there and I'm very hopeful for this year's tournament. I've already worked around the prefects schedules and we are going to practice every Tuesday and Thursday from after classes until dinner. If we are having a bad practice I've arranged it with Professor Longbottom that we can practice into dinner and the House Elves will get us a team dinner. Our very first match is against hufflepuff, but they are a fully returning team. This is good and bad. This year they are all very experienced seventh years. They have no new members at all. However, next year they won't even have a captain that is returning so they will be very weak. Our team is a very young team and we may have as many as two years together without needing try outs. We may be young this year, but we will be a very experienced team soon. We have talent, heart, and determination. WHO ARE WE?"
"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the returning players. He tried again. "WHO ARE WE?" "GRYFFINDOR!" shouted all of the players making the locker room vibrate with noise. "Team dismissed!"
James, Murphy, and Orion grinned as they filed out of the locker room. They had made the team. They were met by a grinning Teddy Lupin.
"Congratulations guys! I knew you would make it!"
"Thanks Teddy, your commentating really helped lighten the mood. It was great!" said Orion happily hugging his friend.
"McGonagall and Longbottom thought so too. I was just being goofy the first time, but then they encouraged me to continue. I'm the new announcer for the quidditch matches!"
"WHAT!?" exclaimed all three of the players together.
"That's so great, Teddy!" exclaimed Murphy backslapping his friend. Teddy grinned modestly.
"Well I had to find something to do while you guys played. I would have had to sit with the girls which I doubt would have gone over well. Victoire is still mad at me for the fake love letters from that sixth year Adam." The four boys laughed and headed into the castle happily brooms over their shoulders.
The week before Halloween was the first quidditch match. Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor. Orion, Murphy, and James were all very nervous, but Trevor made them eat some breakfast before they headed down to the locker rooms. Teddy went with them as far as the door, but then went up to the announcers chair in the teacher's box. He just hoped he remembered all the names.
"Okay team, we've worked strategy against Hufflepuff since day one. We know that their chasers aren't their strong part, but that they have the biggest, best beaters a team could ask for. Their keeper is the weakest link in their chain as he is distracted easily, and their seeker is the one that Paladoris has to look out for. Yang is amazing. He's already signed with the Chudley Cannons for next season. Maybe they will win a game. However, we have our weapons too. From what I've heard, we are the best team of chasers around. We have a super tough keeper and some bloody good beaters and a seeker that's as fast as lightening. Lets go out there and show them how lions roar! WHO ARE WE?" "GRYFFINOR!"
Suddenly Teddy Lupin's voice was sonorified and could be heard all over the stadium. "Welcome Hogwarts students and staff to the first quidditch match of the season, and sure to be a good game too with the experienced Hufflepuff team on one end of the stadium vs the young lion pack with loads of talent on the other. And here comes our yellow team! Yang….." The Hufflepuff supporters cheered as their players flew out of the locker room for some laps around the field. As they settled down Teddy introduced the Gyffindor team. "And now for the proud gryffindors led by captain chaser Banks, rookie chasers Gump and Potter, keeper Finnigan, beaters Black and Webster, and their seeker Paladoris!" The crowd cheered as they shot out of the locker room and James felt as if he was in an empty stadium as he ignored the cheering crowd and settled down. Yang and Banks shook hands before the players lined up.
Before James knew it Madame Hooch had blown her whistle and they were shooting into the air after the quaffle. He was a little surprised when he was the one to catch the toss and was instinctively shooting toward the hufflepuff goals. "AND POTTER WITH THE QUAFFLE, A ROOKIE WINS THE TOSS, BUT A WELL AIMED BLUDGER COULD GIVE THE BALL TO THE BADGERS."
James however dodged the bludger and passed the ball neatly to Trevor who swooped around behind him before passing it back and setting him up to take a shot. James put on a little extra speed before shooting the ball past the keeper and into the left ring. The red crowd went wild. "POTTER PASSES TO BANKS, BANKS PULLS A MOVE ON HUFFLEPUFF CHASER RODRIGUEZ AND BACK TO POTTER WHO TOSSES IT INTO THE LEFT RING LIKE ITS NOTHING! GYFFINDOR SCORES! 10-0 GRYFFINDOR!"
"Good job Potter!" called Trevor smiling as they headed back onto defense. James smiled on his first goal. Quidditch was the best. Before long, the score was 70-30 gryffindor. James had score three goals, and was playing superbly. After his third goal, the crowd had started chanting his name. All of the fans could tell that Potter was going to be a great player. He had stolen the ball from the other team four times and only lost it once. The gryffindor chasers were dominating play, and Murphy had saved two difficult shots. About an hour into the game a well aimed bludger by Orion gave gryffindor another ten points and almost took Rodriguez out of the game. Soon the score was 110- 50 Gryffindor in the lead. However, by the time Yang caught the snitch, the score was only 210-70 and so the 150 points for catching the snitch made it a close game of 210-220 Hufflepuff winning. "AND YANG CATCHES THE SNITCH FOR 150 POINTS GIVING THE BADGERS A 10 POINT ADVANTAGE OVER THE LIONS. HUFFLEPUFF WINS! CONGRATULATIONS TO BOTH TEAMS FOR A BRILLIANTLY PLAYED GAME! NEXT MATCH IS SLYTHERIN VS RAVENCLAW. DON'T MISS THE GREEN VS. BLUE! SEE YOU THERE!"
The gryffindor team headed into the locker room only somewhat dejectedly. "Well team, that was a great first match. I can't say our chasers could have performed any better with 210 points! Amazing James! I've never seen a third year with so much talent. Too bad that idiot didn't put you on the team last year. And Black and Webster. That. Was. Amazing. You created so many turnovers and saved our necks quite a few times out there. Great teamwork. Didn't know you two had it in you. Murphy, Murphy, Murphy, I don't know what to tell you except that you are amazing, amazing, amazing! Only seven shots you didn't save out of a lot more than seven. Great work man. And even if you didn't catch the snitch Vivia, don't feel bad. You kept Yang pretty busy with that fake out around the middle of the game. He's gonna play pro, so, you did your best and the game was still very close. Even if we lost, we are not out of the running for the cup. We'll have to see how the rest of the games play out, but this may have been our most difficult match of the season. Next up is Slytherin right before break. We're going to start strategizing for them on Tuesday. Rest up this weekend. Good game!" said Banks who was secretly a little surprised at how well his team had played. They looked good for having four new players, especially against such a strong Hufflepuff team. He wasn't sure if they played Hufflepuff again that gryffindor wouldn't win. "WHO ARE WE?" "GRYFFINDOR!" "Team Dismissed."
Following the match, the gryffindor house wasn't too disappointed to have a party. It was a little less euphoric than usual, but there was food and mingling in the common room after dinner. It wasn't an all out party, but everyone was proud that their team had played such an exciting match. James received a lot of praise for scoring 11 goals, over half of the teams' points. He and the other three marauders soon retreated to the dorm though.
"So, did you realize that next Saturday is not only Halloween, but also our first ever Hogsmead trip?" asked Murphy excitedly as he put on his green and yellow Kenmore Kestrels pajamas.
"Yeah, this year is going to be so awesome!" exclaimed Orion. "We get to go to Hogsmead, we pull great pranks…"
"PRANKS!" exclaimed James interrupting him. "We don't have a Halloween Prank yet!"
"Well you guys have been so busy with quidditch, I didn't want to bring it up," replied Teddy as the other three boys displayed looks of utter shock.
"We have to have a prank," said Orion panicking. "I AM NOT DRESSING LIKE A GIRL!"
"Why would we have to dress like a girl?" asked Murphy tiredly as he got into bed.
"THE CODE!" exclaimed James exasperatedly. He sat down on his bed. "We will find something by Saturday. If not… I think I would rather die."
"We'll worry about it tomorrow. Goodnight Marauders," said Orion sleepily.
A week later the boys still didn't have a prank. They had searched through books in the library for hours on Wednesday night and on Friday. They simply hadn't been able to find something with enough class and humor as well as not being too difficult to pull off on such short notice. It was Saturday morning and they sipped their juice before going on their Hogsmead trip. Before they knew it they were in the carriages to Hogsmead with their pockets full of money, but they were only a bit excited about their trip.
"Let's stop by the Hogsmead Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes first. I need some new dungbombs," said Orion.
"That was awesome when you let them off in Yang's cauldron last week in potions. Her potions was awesomely destroyed and we got out of the rest of class."
"Yeah, but I think she knows it was me; she gave me dirty looks all week." With that the boys had arrived in Hogsmead and were headed off to the brightly colored Joke shop. Many kids still went to Zonko's but WWW and Zonkos had different types of products. James and his friends preferred WWW because it was owned by James' uncle George, and it had a wider selection and always had new products while Zonko's only carried the classics. They were some of the first to arrive at the shop so the bell above the door could be heard when they entered.
"JAMES! MY FAVORITE NEPHEW!" exclaimed George Weasley from behind the counter. His bright purple robes clashed with his red hair which was sticking up all over the place. Behind him was a picture of him and his deceased twin brother Fred laughing as they opened their first store together. James smiled and hugged his uncle.
"Hi Uncle George," he said somewhat less enthusiastically.
"Why the long face Potter?" he asked as the bell rang once more and some more Hogwarts students flooded into the store. Roger, George's normal manager for the Hogsmead store walked in from the back room.
"Why are you here and not at your normal store in Diagon Alley?" asked James.
"Well, I wanted to see you," said George smiling. "Why don't you and your friends come into the back room so we can have a chat?" The four boys and the tall redhead filed into the back room which was full of boxes and things of a mysterious nature such as a cauldron that was bubbling in the corner.
"So how's your first Hogsmead trip going?" he asked happily.
"Well, yours is the first store we've been in so great!" said Orion looking around.
"How about I make this visit extra special and you guys volunteer to do a favor for me?" asked George with a mischievous grin.
"Sure," answered the four boys together.
"I have a new product. It isn't on the market yet, but it's sure to be a hit. I want to give some to you boys before I sell it to anyone else. So will you do me a favor and take it and use to well?"
"SURE!" exclaimed James excitedly. "What is it?"
"Well I'm calling it Bubbling Belching Blast Off Potion. You drink some, and you can fly around until you belch. The potion creates bubbles in your stomach that cause you to rise and you can swim around in the air until you burp up the bubbles. Then you will gradually float back down to the ground. Great fun I'm telling you. I stole the idea from a muggle movie. It even comes in great flavors, my favorite being pumpkin juice as it reminds me of my Hogwarts days."
"This is PERFECT!" exclaimed Orion. "George my good man, how much of this potion would it take to send the entire Hogwarts students and staff afloat?"
"Who would have thought the perfect Halloween Prank would literally float into our hands?" said Murphy happily.
"Haha, I knew you were my favorite nephew for a reason. Here's and entire case. This should be just right for the whole school. I would fill each cup about halfway full of this and the other half full of actual pumpkin juice. Take pictures. I want to see this. McGonagall belching."
"Could you owl it to our dorm a little later? We still need to stop by Honeydukes and Three Broomsticks before we leave," said James smiling happily.
"Sure thing kiddo. Don't forget to stop by the Shrieking Shack too."
The boys set out and went to Honeydukes for some good chocolate and some sugar quills. They then went and have two butterbeers each at the pub before stopping by the shrieking shack and heading back to the school.
They hadn't been back in their dorm for ten minutes when they saw a large brown owl knocking on the dorm window with a very large package tied to his feet. They immediately took the package and opened it to find not only the belching potion but also various WWW items that George had added to his gift.
"How are we going to get this potion in to everyone's drinks without anyone noticing?" asked Murphy thoughtfully.
"I've got the idea this time," said Teddy making a rare but intelligent contribution to their prank. "We need to take a trip to the kitchens under the invisibility cloak. The house elves must keep all the pumpkin juice somewhere." James was already pulling out his invisibility cloak and the four boys grabbed a corner of the crate before slipping under it.
The trip to the kitchens was more difficult than usual to maneuver as the boys had a giant crate between them. James was pretty sure that his uncle had put a weightlessness charm on the crate when the owl had carried it. They finally made it to the kitchens and they put the crate in a corner after realizing that the house elves were strangely missing. Possibly because they were under the invisibility cloak they hadn't been attacked by house elves asking if they wanted anything. They then set off in search of pumpkin juice.
It wasn't very hard to find a simmering cauldron full of warm pumpkin juice. It was about half full at the moment, so each of the boys got a pitcher and started dumping some of it down the drain until there was about half of the original amount. They then went to the crate and opened it to reveal bottles of potion which they then dumped into the cauldron until it was once again half full. That was a lot of pumpkin juice. The boys grinned and thought of how perfect this prank was for Halloween. Everyone drank pumpkin juice on this holiday with a toast at the very beginning.
Later that evening at the feast the boys waited anxiously for the food and things to appear.
"Happy Halloween everyone. I would like to start this feast as always with a toast. If everyone will raise their cups to the wonderful house elves who have prepared this meal and the friends and colleagues with whom we share it." Everyone reached for the pumpkin juice which had just appeared on the table and raised their glasses before drinking of the warm juice. James smiled, but nothing happened.
"Enjoy the food" McGonagall continued as the food appeared and everyone began eating. The four boys looked at each other each thinking the same thing. They had been found out and the pumpkin juice had been totally normal. The major dilemma now was whether or not they had pulled a prank on the whole school since they had set it up but it just hadn't gone through. Did they have to dress as girls?
Suddenly about five minutes into the feast they started feeling a tingling. They looked around to see that many had stopped eating suddenly people were lifting off of the ground and floating out of their seats. The four marauders grinned at each other as Orion pulled out a camera and snapped a picture. Soon they too were floating in the air and swimming. Murphy kicked his legs first and the boys followed suit as they swam through the air toward the teachers table where Orion snapped a picture of McGonagall laughing as she tred air. Professor Flitwick was zooming around the other teachers like a fish and seemed to be enjoying himself immensely. Other students were laughing and swimming around over the tables, some among the floating candles that lit the great hall and some approaching the enchanted ceiling. James looked over to see Elaine and his cousin Victoire doing backflips in the air.
Suddenly an echoing belch could be heard over laughter and talking. Everyone looked over to see an abashed sixth year slytherin girl who was now slowly floating down toward the ground trying to make it so she landed on the ground. Suddenly another loud belch directed people toward a fifth year Hufflepuff and another then to a little first year Gryffindor that was friends with Rose. The entire hall soon erupted in extremely loud belches that sent all of the students into gales of laughter as they floated gently to the ground. Even McGonagall belched loudly and laughed at herself. Uncle George hadn't mentioned that the burping would be so loud. Orion snapped a few more pictures, even one of the Potter brothers who found each other before they belched and drifted downward.
The rest of the feast was very enjoyable and everyone laughed about the funny and enjoyable prank that someone had pulled on the entire school for the third year running. People speculated if it was the same people or different ones each year. They guessed that they had to be older students each time because of the daringness and often complexness of the pranks. The marauders smiled and discreetly fived each other under the table.
Before long it was nearly Christmas Holidays. James, Orion, and Murphy not only had finals to worry about but also the Slytherin Quidditch Match the last weekend before they left. They spent a fun day in Hogsmead the weekend before the quidditch match, and bought Christmas presents for their families and each other behind each others backs.
The day of the match was a cold day with snow on the ground. Snow had become the norm back in November. Students paraded to the match in warm robes, with cloaks, boots, hats, mittens, and scarves. James felt very ready for this game and wasn't listening very much as Banks gave them their pregame pep talk. He knew he only had to go out there and smash them. He didn't listen as Teddy called out the names of the Slytherin players but when POTTER rang out over the pitch he zoomed out of the locker room ready to play.
"AND BANKS CATCHES THE TOSS WHO ZOOMS TOWARD THE SLYTHERIN GOAL. HE SHOOTS AT THE RIGHT RING BUT THE SLYTHERIN KEEPER MATTHEWS DEFLECTS IT. THE BALL IS THEN SNATCHED UP BY GUMP WHO PULLS AROUND TO MAKE ANOTHER SHOT AT THE GOAL BUT NO, A BLUDGER WAS JUST HIT HER WAY BY JENKINS AND SHE PASSES IT TO POTTER WHO TOSSES IT INTO THE LEFT RING RIGHT PAST MATTHEWS. GYFFINDOR SCORES! TEN-ZIIP GRYFFINDOR!" Before long, the score was 150-40 gyffindor winning. James had scored six goals and Slytherin was down a chaser. Orion and Webster working in collaboration had each hit a bludger at the sixth year slytherin chaser Voltaire at the same time. Voltaire, not being super bright had tried to dodge both at the same time which got him nowhere and he had been clobbered by both of them.
"VOLTAIRE GETS CLOBBERED BY TWO WELL AIMED BLUDGERS. SLYTHERIN WILL BE DOWN A CHASER, NO DOUBT. THIS WON'T BE GOOD FOR THE GREEN TEAM I'M SURE. BEST OF LUCK VOLTAIRE IN THE HOSPITAL WING WHERE MADAME STROUT OFFERS THE VERY BEST OF CARE. I'M SURE YOU WILL RECEIVE MANY CHOCOLATES, CARDS, AND FLOWERS FROM YOUR ADORING FANS. YOU HEAR THAT FANS! I PROMISED THEM SO YOU BETTER SEND THEM!" Teddy's prediction was more than right as without a third chaser, the slytherin's scoring ability dropped entirely. Soon the score was 240- 40 and Bell Lestrange the team captain of Slytherin and team seeker was desperate to find the snitch to end the game before they lost by any more. Luck and possibly skill were in her favor when she spotted the snitch and dove for it at full speed catching it before Vivia Paladoris could even realize what was happening.
Gryffindor still won the match 260- 190 and the red crowd was going wild. James was so excited to tell his dad he had scored 140 points for his team in one match. Murphy had almost shut out the slytherin chasers entirely, and Orion had played a great game.
After the match, the party in the common room was loud and crazy as the Lions celebrated the defeat of their arch rivals. Someone had gone to the kitchens and gotten some food and a lot of pumpkin juice, and someone else had set up a gamaphone and was playing as DJ. A little past midnight the party broke up and everyone went to their dorms.
The next week was hard to concentrate due to the impeding holidays. However, the boys all did fairly well. Murphy was doing very well in divination, and Firenze believed he had some sort of gift for the subject. Orion on the other hand did not. He was seriously considering dropping the class for fourth year. He did well on all of his finals including Care of Magical Creatures which had only been to keep the cross breed flubberworm skrewit that Hagrid had bred alive for the entire class. Hagrid had discovered they were allergic to humans so all you had to do was not touch it. James and Teddy had had harder times with Ancient Ruins and Arithmacy. Teddy had even gone to help from Elaine Dridel, the smartest girl in their year who was also in the classes for help before the exams. She had gladly helped him and he had done fairly well on the Arithmacy and Ancient Ruins. James had done exceptionally well in both classes, especially because he had always been very interested in Ancient Ruins due to his Uncle Bill who was a code breaker for Gringots. James was just naturally smart without trying and even difficult things came easily to him. Muggle studies had been a piece of cake because Murphy had been able to explain everything to the boys with more ease than their muggle studies professor. His mom was a muggle and he had grown up in a half-muggle household and could therefore explain things like electricity to the boys. Electricity also happened to be what the final was over and each boy got well over a 100.
For the marauders, the Holidays were very long. Each had something trying happen to them over the holidays and they were sure to write each other about it.
Teddy went to America with his grandma on the most boring vacation of his life. His grandmother had simply wanted to lay on a beach in Florida the entire time. He had gone swimming and spent some time reading. The thing he had enjoyed the most was when his grandmother had taken him to Disney World which had actually been really cool for a muggle theme park.
Orion also had to spend his vacation with his grandmother because his dad was freaking out that the World Cup was to be hosted in England in only a year and a half. The best part of his break had been when his grandmother had given him a picture of his grandfather and revealed he had gone to Hogwarts and was a gryffindor very similar to him. Orion had looked at the picture skeptically. In it was a tallish boy a little older than he was who looked almost exactly like him. His hair was the same black color, but a little longer and it fell a little nicer about the boys forehead in a carefree way. His eyes were a mischievous grey color and his face the same noble and handsome face that Orion saw in the mirror every day. He had smiled at his grandmother and thanked her for the picture.
"You're named after him you know," she said smiling at her grandson.
"Really, so his name was Orion Black too?"
"Not quite, but close enough luv."
Murphy's holidays had been a little less dramatic. Murphy's dad had been ecstatic to hear all about everything quidditch related with Murphy. He had been so proud when his son had made the team and the two relived each game Murphy had played together over the break. However, Murphy's little brother who would be a first year next year got the dragon pox the day after Christmas, and the rest of the holidays had revolved around him. Murphy was just glad he had gotten the dragon pox when he was four and wouldn't get it again.
James' holiday had started normally. They had gone to Christmas at the Burrow and had won the family quidditch tournament. It had been a five on five tournament with no beaters again this year. They had beaten Uncle Ron at keeper, Rose as a seeker, Hugo, Victoire, and Uncle Bill as chasers. Some of the family was getting tired of the Potter family winning every year, but his mom wouldn't hear of it. She laughed saying how all of her older brothers wouldn't let her play when she was little and now she and her family beat them every time. Uncle Ron protested that it was only because Hermione didn't play, but Ginny would laugh and tell him "no" right before she scored on his keeping skills.
The dilemma on James' vacation had been when his dad had announced that they would be holding a New Years Eve Ball. As head of the Auror Department, Harry Potter wanted to bring the Aurors and other Ministry departments closer. So he had devised the idea of a ball on New Years for prominent wizarding families, the Potter's family and friends, and Ministry Workers and their families. It was going to be at James' house in the ballroom, and James was not excited about going. Two days after Christmas he had been forced to go to Diagon Alley and get dress robes for the event. His mother had let him choose scarlet and gold ones in honor of his Gryffindor pride, but he still wasn't excited about wearing them.
The night of the ball came, and James had to dance with each of his girl cousins, his sister Lily, and even some of his girl classmates. His dad had even made him dance with Violet Parkinson a slytherin in his year. Harry had slipped a galleon in his son's pocket and consoled him with the fact that he had been forced to dance with her Aunt Pansy once and she was even more unpleasant.
The boys soon were back at school in their normal schedules. They were spending some time one night working on their atlas. They had snuck outside and had been mapping out the exact locations of the greenhouses and exploring the edge of the Forbidden forest until almost 2 am. They were headed back into the castle and hadn't bothered to put the invisibility cloak back on due to the late hour. Suddenly they heard a mumbling from around the corner. The boys ran with nowhere to hide and the cloak folded away in James' bag.
Seconds after they had evacuated the corridor they were in, Filch walked into view, still awake and searching for troublemakers. Murphy silently gasped behind a statue where he was hiding. Filch passed his way, but Murphy was going crazy. He was absolutely terrified as he waited for the other boys to come find him. As he sat beside the statue he noticed something written on the side of the statue very faintly engraved into the stone. "Dissendium" read Murphy quitly as he tapped his wand against the letters. Suddenly there was a grinding noise and the hump of the witch opened to reveal a secret hole. Murphy gasped and looked down it peering into the darkness before whispering Lumos and lighting the hole to reveal a dark passage of a stairway going down indefinitely. Murphy said "Dissendium" again, but nothing happened until he hid the statue in frustration with his wand. The passage closed up. He couldn't wait to tell the rest of the boys and sprinted back to the gryffindor tower.
"Guys," he panted reaching the dorm to find the other three boys there already.
"Wow Murphy, we were so worried Filch caught you!" exclaimed Orion a little to sentimentally as he ran over to him and hugged him as if for dear life.
"He got worried that you were being tortured," explained Teddy. "He has an overactive imagination.
"No I wasn't being tortured. But that was a close call."
"Its so hard when you don't know if some teacher or Filch is going to pop out at you," said James distractedly as he added some things to the map that they had explored out on the grounds.
"Yeah, sometimes it would be nice to have Filch on the map so we would know exactly where he was," said Murphy off handedly as he sat down next to James to look at the map.
"THAT'S IT!" exclaimed Teddy. "We put Filch on the map! There has to be some sort of charm or something. We could research it and the map could be so much better. We could put all of the teachers on it! Students too! I never imagined a charmed map before, but we're bright enough. We could do it. Why do we need a whole Atlas of Maps. With magic we could put it on a single piece of parchment!"
"What a great idea! It's perfectly devious. Well of course it is. We are the Marauders, but still. I love it! You would come up with it Teddy. And Murphy too. You do deserve credit for putting the idea in his head," laughed Orion as the boys realized the genius of the plan.
"We must start at once," stated James. "Library, tomorrow."
The very first day in the library the boys found nothing. However, that small fact didn't deter them and they spent the next month scanning through books trying to find things that would help them. The first thing they found was a book on wizarding architecture that showed how wizards made blueprints. Wizards could put on once piece of paper what muggles put on ten by superimposing all of the floors of a floorplan in intricate detail on one piece of parchment. Then, whoever was holding or observing the blueprint would focus his attention on a floor or even a specific room, and the blueprint would show that floor or area in detail with all of the other parts of the blueprint fading into the background. The spells and charms to make a map like this were actually fairly simple, but the drawing to make the map was very involved. After finding these spells, James spent a good two weeks redrawing the maps in the atlas onto one three foot piece of parchment. It was very interesting to see when you were focusing on the third floor and suddenly you jumped five floors to the sixth. You could zoom into the dungeons and see all of the narrow hallways and James had gone into so much detail as to add certain landmark statues and every door and window.
One problem that the boys realized when they made this map was the stairs that moved. It presented the same problem that people had on maps. How could you map something that is moving around. The boys spent weeks and weeks trying to find something or anything that would help them. Finally, they stumbled across a circled passage in an old book with the letters MM written right above it.
The book was old, filled with charms that were unfashionable or forgotten. This one was a spell that could be enchanted on the plans of a house to show intruders. If the master of the house kept a blueprint of his house with him, he could see when someone arrived at the door as they appeared as a little black dot on the paper with a name labeling the person. The spell was quite easy and only had to be cast at the entrance of a household on both the map and the house. The four boys decided that the entrance to Hogwarts wasn't the front doors and that it was the gates in Hogsmead. The next trip to Hogsmead was the weekend of Valentines Day, and although the boys were apprehensive about going into town on such a feared day, they decided a trip would be worth it.
On February 10th, four boys huddled against the chill at the Gates of Hogwarts. They had brought the book and were finally ready to cast the spell. They cast it together and smiled as they looked at the map. Hundreds of little black dots danced across the page. James focused on the gates of Hogwarts to see four little black dots labeled James Potter, Orion Black, Murphy Finnigan, and Ted Lupin. He ran a few paces forward to see the black dot mimic his movements. The four boys laughed and watched as dots moved about the castle. McGonagall was in her office, Filch was stalking the third floor corridor, and Hagrid was walking this way. James and the other three boys looked up to see him a mere ten feet away.
"Hi Hagrid," they chimed as James quickly stuffed the map into his bag.
"What are you fer boys doin ere? Up t' trouble no doubt. What's tha' you 'ad in your 'ands there James?"
"Nothing professor, it was just a piece of scrap parchment. I was going to draw a picture of the snow and ice covered lake with the castle in the background. I'm a bit of an artist, but its too chilly. The cold will freeze my ink and my hands before I can get any progress."
"Oh, well I'm off to Three Broomsticks fer a butterbeer, why don' you join me? It will warm yah up. Treats on me." The four boys nodded and followed Hagrid to the pub where they enjoyed a warm butterbeer before heading back to the castle. That was when they decided that the Marauders Map as they were now calling it, could not just remain as it was. It would have to be disguised so that the average person could read it. It needed protective spells. Spells against someone reading a diary were easy to find, and the boys decided to apply them to the map.
"Look, this here password protects your diary. It causes any words to remain invisible until the person says the password or words and then the words begin appearing. We could do this one," said Teddy.
"We need a password a teacher would never ever say," said Murphy thinking aloud. James scratched his head as Orion started laughing.
"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," said Orion.
"Actually, that's perfect. Not obvious, but good enough," said Teddy putting the book Secreting your Secrets from Others through Spells into his bag so they could perform the spell later. "We only need a password to lock up the map after we've managed to finish whatever mischief we wanted to achieve by using it."
"That's a good one. Easy to remember, and quick to say if you're in a hurry," said Murphy. "Mischief Managed."
A few days later the boys were laying around the dorm when Teddy sat up from the book he was reading. "I've found something in that book Secreting your Secrets from Others through Spells."
"You're reading that for fun?" said Orion incredulously. Teddy nodded. "You would!"
"It's a good one for the map. It's a spell that insults the reader if they try and read someone's journal that has the spell we put on the map on it. It's quite good. It even thinks up insults based on what the caster would actually say. Like lets say your worst enemy tried to read your diary. It would tell them to piss off quite rudely with insults that you actually use on them. Or say someone who was very good looking. Then it would say something like, you should go out with me and maybe I'll let you read this. Very good piece of magic if we can get it to work.
Soon, the boys had put dozens of charms and spells on the map and had near perfected it. One day after Elaine Dridel had thrown James' homework into the fire when he made her mad, they decided to not only fireproof it, but waterproof it, put a spell on it that would compel someone to find it if lost, and one that would compel someone not to throw it away. They had found a spell that would allow the stairs and their movements to be tracked. In all the map was near perfect and April fools day was approaching. The boys however, had already come up with a marvelous prank.
In midmarch was the final gryffindor quidditch match against Ravenclaw. It was the final match of the season. Hufflepuff had beaten both slytherin and ravenclaw, and unless gryffindor won the match by over fifty points, hufflepuff would win the quidditch cup for the first time in over fifty years. Gryffindor didn't win the match by fifty points. Gryffindor didn't even win the match. They lost by forty points when the ravenclaw seeker caught the snitch. What use was it to have the best three chasers and keeper in the school when your seeker never caught the snitch? The next day the great hall had been decked out in yellow and the trophy presented to captain Yang. His little sister ShiShi had convinced all the gryffindor girls to wear yellow in support, and the gryffindor players were demoralized. James scowled at Elaine Dridel as she smiled at him with her yellow outfit and yellow headband in her dark brown hair. Next year it would be red.
The night of March 31st, the four boys dressed in all black. James had ordered black muggle pants and sweaters for his birthday, and the boys were wearing black trainers and had put darkening charms on their faces and on Murphy's hair. They snuck out of the dorm in their invisibility cloak with the Marauders Map at around two in the morning. McGonagall had waited a long time to go to sleep and they quietly snuck toward her office. They had spent the last two weeks hiding out near her office waiting to hear someone give the password. It was Cheshire Cat. Upon reaching the gargoyle, the boys whispered the password and silently trod up the stairs. Teddy had practiced Silencing charms for weeks and shot one at the sleeping victim before the boys poked him gently.
"Wake up," whispered Teddy. The sorting hat's slits that served as it's eyes opened and it looked at the four boys. The slash of it's mouth moved, but nothing came out of it. Teddy picked up hat and sat it on his head.
"Sorry to do this to you Mr. Sorting Hat, Sir, but we were wondering if you would do us a favor?" asked Orion.
What sort of favor? Asked the sorting hat to Teddy through his mind which Teddy relayed quietly to the other three boys.
"We want to prank the school, not in a bad way, but for fun. It will support inter house unity and all. We know you like that sort of thing. We want to send the entire school on a scavenger hunt to find you, our favorite hat ever," said James looking at the sorting hat. The sorting hat nodded and agreed with Teddy to go.
"Thanks, we were too afraid to kidnap you. We're really glad you agreed to go. We made all the clues rhyme and everything. Just because we know you work so hard on your song every year and it rhymes and stuff," said Murphy. The boys quietly took the sorting hat back to their dorm where they had prepared a comfortable stool for him to stay the night on. They had taken off the silencing charm on him and he was comfortable in the dorm. He had even commented on how nice and clean the boys were. He hadn't been outside of the Great Hall and Headmaster's office in a while so this was a nice change.
The next morning was a Friday, and once everyone was at breakfast, red writing suddenly appeared above the house tables as a booming voice read the words over the noise of the entire hall.
Dearest Hogwarts Students and Staff,
I've kidnapped your dear sorting hat.
I'm quite sure you don't know where he's at.
So If you want your good friend back,
You'll have to go where beaters whack.
Everyone started talking loudly at once. The sorting hat stolen? Suddenly McGonagall stood up silencing the entire hall. The hall remained silent as she silently traveled around behind the teachers' table and went into the door behind the hall. She returned almost immediately with a shocked look on her face. "I've spoken with the portraits in my office, and the sorting hat is indeed missing. I'm afraid that the only way to get back our hat will be to follow this thief's crazy scheme. I believe the best way to get this done will be to cancel this morning's classes so that the school can find our sorting hat. If everyone will go to their teacher that they have for the first class on Friday mornings so that we can be somewhat organized. If you have a free period, come to me. We are going to get to the bottom of this mystery."
"The riddle in the sky there is obviously a clue. We simply need to figure out what it wants us to do. Everyone meet in your groups and we'll decide a course of action." Teddy, Orion, James, and Murphy grinned. McGonagall was actually going to play along with it. They were missing morning classes. The school was going to participate in the scavenger hunt. James slipped behind a door and under the invisibility cloak. He had work to do.
Professor Flitwick was brimming with excitement when the boys reached him and their class. "I do think I know where the clue is pointing us. How about everyone else?" Hands shot in the air. "Daisy, where do you think the clue is pointing us?" The professor asked a blond Hufflepuff girl.
"Beaters whack on the Quidditch Pitch Professor. I think we should go there."
"Right you are, ten points to Hufflepuff."
Soon McGonagall asked what the other groups thought and it was unanimous. The school poured out of the building down to the quidditch pitch. Once the slowest first year had arrived words suddenly soared above their heads in bright red letters.
Dearest Hogwarts Students and Staff,
You're one step closer, that is true,
So here is another Clue.
This professor's color is green,
Arriving in his dungeon office don't scream.
In no time at all the groups had decided that the clue obviously meant to go to Slughorns Office. Once they had officially decided what the clue meant, Professor Slughorn became very excited clapping his hands at the thought of being as important to be included in the scavenger hunt. The students and staff headed back into the castle and down to the dungeons. Very few could fit into Slughorns office, only the teachers really, but the rest waited in various dungeon classrooms or the hallways. The teachers then reported back to the students who figured out the clues.
Dearest Hogwarts Students and Staff,
Once again you figured out my trick,
Now to the place where you would find a stick.
Not just any old stick will do,
One with purple spots found in .
Far less groups figured out this clue. This was because not very many people knew what this rhyme was talking about. Obviously, you were meant to finish the rhyme, but it was a difficult clue. All of the groups with fifth years in them knew right away what the clue was talking about. As did Professor Longbottom's group. A plant with purple spots on it's branches had been developed by Professor Longbottom and was currently being studied by his Owl year students the fifth years. Professor Longbottom also happened to keep it in Greenhouse Number Two which fit perfectly into the rhyme. The students and staff set off across the grounds once again and upon everyone reaching the area around the greenhouse, red letters appeared on the glass of the greenhouse.
Dearest Hogwarts Students and Staff,
Perhaps the next clue will be your doom,
So look high and look low for this room.
Polish it with Mr. Filch for a detention,
Sometimes the awards in here need some attention.
Troublemakers got this one immediately, while others took longer to comprehend the clue. Before long the entire school was headed to the trophy room where school awards were located. The room was actually pretty big and almost all of the groups fit into the room and the rest only had to wait outside in the halls. The red letters once again appeared.
Dearest Hogwarts Students and Staff,
You found this clue very fast,
Maybe the next will be your last.
Now to the place where you skiv off class,
It is clear and looks like glass.
This clue was also a bit harder, and took some groups longer to understand, but there was hope of an end in sight with this clue. It was nearly lunch, and people were beginning to worry the scavenger hunt would continue past lunch. Every group eventually decided to go to the lake. The red letters appeared once again.
Dearest Hogwarts Students and Staff,
Head off to your favorite class,
Where you fill your plate and glass.
Here you shall find your good friend on a stool,
Have a happy April Fool!
Soon all the groups were headed back to where they started. The Great Hall. Here the sorting hat sat proudly on a stool while the tables were already laid with lunch. The students had been laughing and having a good time all morning, and this was an excellent way to end the fun, with lunch. McGonagall herself looked as if she had enjoyed it. She took the sorting hat back into the room behind the hall for a bit before returning and announcing that afternoon classes were cancelled as well. The day was a day off from classes due to the excitement of the morning. James, who had rejoined the group and the other boys smiled happily as people around them relished in the great prank.
After lunch, the boys were exiting the great hall when Neville cornered them. "Please come see me in my office." The boys followed him to the office where plants and pictures of his family dominated. Professor McGonagall sat behind the desk.
"Hello boys," she said calmly. "Quite funny really that you're here. You were the ones who stole the sorting hat. Yes, I know, he told me. However, you managed not to break any major school rules. You did not steal as you asked the sorting hat to come with you, and you didn't break into my office as you obviously knew the password. Which for the record has been changed. The only rule you actually broke was being out past curfew. So the only punishment I can give you is a detention each, polishing the trophy room with Filch. It's extra dirty due to everyone being in it today. And also, since your actions supported school unity and allowed the school to spend a day without house rivalries and with fun, I'm going to award you fifteen points each to gryffindor."
The boys simply stood in shock during her entire speech. Orion's mouth was literally hanging open. "You boys surprised me very much today. Orion Black, before today I hadn't made the connection, but after today there's no doubt. You simply look just like him, but I hadn't realized he had ever had any children. I did not know your grandfather was Sirius Black. It's simply crazy that you, Sirius's grandson, James Potter's grandson and namesake, and Teddy Lupin's son would all attend Hogwarts at the same time, become best friends in gryffindor, and become pranksters just like they did. Murphy Finnigan, you are an excellent addition to this group too, don't get me wrong. I'm ever so glad at how different you are from Peter Pettigrew. Boys, you are dismissed."
The boys walked out of the office in shock. Orion had no idea that his father's father had been Sirius Black. He didn't even know who that was. He didn't know that he and James' grandfather's had been best friends. He hadn't had a clue. Maybe McGonagall was nuts. Teddy had known that his father and James Potter I had been good friends, but didn't know who Peter Pettigrew was, and neither did James. They shrugged it off.
The boys were ready for summer. However, they had to go through the rest of the year and exams first. Exams went as usual, and soon the boys were on the Hogwarts Express home. This year as they divvied up the Marauding Items, Orion took the photo album and prank notebook, while Teddy took the code, James the map and cloak, and Murphy the book of secrets. Once again they planned things for Murphy's birthday and a trip to Diagon Alley.
Hi everyone! Did you like it? Review.. Lots of love Ellie