Chapter 6 - The Halloween Prank
The next morning Peter, James and Remus woke up to Sirius bouncing on each of their beds trying to get them up.
"Its today! Its today! Its today!" He sang over and over again, excitedly tearing round the room. Sirius was almost always the first to get up. Either him or Remus. James and Peter liked to lie in and Remus was often very sleepy when he woke up.
"Sirius calm down!" said Remus as Sirius pelted, once again, across the room.
"Well aren't you excited too?" said Sirius turning to face him. "Wow Remus! You look dreadful."
Sirius was shocked. Remus was as white as a ghost and his eyes seemed small and red. He was shaking and looked as if he would pass out any minute. James and Peter looked over as well and gaped.
"Remus! We need to take you to Madame Promfrey!" said James
"No," said Remus firmly. "I'll be fine, and besides! I want to see the prank!"
He knew this would set Sirius off again and to his relief it did.
"Oh yeah! There was something I was going to ask you! How do we get the potion into the Slytherins drinks? I've been wondering about it for a while now…"
"And this is when you decide to tell us?" shouted James "Honestly Sirius!"
"Don't worry guys!" piped up Peter "I know how to get into the kitchens!"
"And why have you only told us this now?" said James fuming at Sirius and Peter. Peter merely shrugged.
"I didn't see the point of telling you."
"YOU DIDN'T SEE THE POINT OF FREE FOOD WHENEVER WE WANT IT?" yelled James.
"Sorry," said Peter shrugging again "All you have to do is go down to the picture of the fruit basket in the basement near the Hufflepuff dorms and tickle the pears."
"All you have to do is tickle the pears?" said Sirius weakly
"Yup, then behind the portrait is kitchens. My mum told me, her friend went down once."
"Lets go!" said Sirius straight away. "Lets get the potion before lessons and go down to the kitchens."
"How will we know what drink are the Slytherins?" asked Remus
"Have you forgotten the fact that everybody's plates and cups match their house colours?"
asked James "Remus are you sure you don't want to go to Madame Promfrey?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot." said Remus blushing. "Ok lets get ready then go."
They quickly all got ready and raced of to the common room where they met Addy. They quickly explained to her what was happening on the way to the room of requirement.
"Oh!" she replied when they entered the room, her eyes shining "That's perfect!"
"I'm so thirsty," said Remus winking at James
"Oh yeah!" said James "Me too!"
"Look the room of requirement has given us something to drink. Do you two want some?"
Remus asked Sirius and Addy who were panting. They took the drinks and drank them gratefully. But almost at once they dropped them clutching their ears and throat.
Sirius grew floppy black dog ears and Addy grew lion ears. They stared at Remus and James angrily and tried to shout at them but when they opened their mouths all that was heard was barks and roars.
Remus, James and Peter all rolled around on the floor laughing.
"We thought we should try it on someone before we gave it to all of the Slytherins." said Remus wiping his eyes and sitting up "Retrosus!"
Addy and Sirius' ears went back to normal at once.
"AND YOU HAD TO TRY IT ON US?" Sirius roared causing the others to fall over laughing again.
When peace had regained they collected the potion in some containers which had spells on them, not allowing them to spill a drop and headed of to the kitchens. Peter walked up to the picture and tickled the pears. At once, it swung back, revealing an extraordinary sight.
There was food everywhere and delicious smells were coming from each direction.
Hundreds of house elves were bustling about, so busy that they didn't notice their guests.
"Quick before we're seen!" hissed James and they tore over to the Slytherin cutlery and hurriedly placed a drop of potion in each goblet that was already full of pumpkin juice.
"Great! Lets go!"
They scampered out quickly and shut the portrait behind them.
"Well I must say that was a lot easier than expected." said Remus mopping his brow "They didn't even notice us!"
"Its cause Sirius, Addy and Peter are so short they look like elves themselves."
James regretted saying this after a long attack from the three of them.
"Come on guys lets go to lessons and get this day over with!" said Remus finally. They went off and sat through five extremely long and dull lessons, glancing at the clock every minute and waiting for the feast to come.
When, finally, the dinner bell went the Marauders made their way down to the hall, extremely excited, though Remus was very nervous. The five sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table, near the front of the hall.
"When are we going to do it?" asked Addy
"Shh!" said Remus, he was very nervous "Before the meal."
"And undo it?"
"After the meal!" replied James grinning. He suddenly looked up and saw Dumbledore call a hush over the students.
"I want to say happy Halloween to you all!" He began. "We have been provided with an excellent feast which…" he went rambling on and James nodded his head slightly at Sirius. Sirius took out his wand under the table and aimed it at Filch and Umbridge, who miraculously, were sitting next to each other. Sirius concentrated then muttered.
"Matatio!"
There was suddenly a shriek from behind Dumbledore who turned instantly. The whole hall paused then roared with laughter, tears trickling down everyone's cheeks, including the Marauders.
It was the funniest thing they had ever seen, Umbridge was leaping about trying to pull Filch's hair off and was yelling in disgust at the clothes she had on. To the marauders amusement she tried to pull the jacket off, but as they were the only ones who could undo the spell, it stayed firmly on. Filch simply sat there dumbfounded running his hand through Umbridge's tight curls.
"Don't!" she shrieked "It will mess it up!"
When Dumbledore calmed her he tried to reverse the effects, but after realising he couldn't, he turned to the hall.
"Who did this?" he asked sternly. Remus felt a chill running through his spine. Addy gave him a comforting look and took out her wand and began to write with the charm.
"Why hello there Albus."
The words appeared in front of the hall and Dumbledore turned round to read them as everyone gasped. The writing was loopy and smart, quite unlike Addy's own handwriting. It gleamed yellow and shone for a few seconds before disappearing.
"Who are you?" asked Dumbledore sharply
"Oh forgive me Albus, I should have introduced myself, or should I say, we should have introduced ourselves."
"How many of there are you?"
"Relax headmaster, we mean you no harm. The prank we played on your professors is harmless. At the end of the feast they shall return to normal…but we thought we'd give the students a laugh."
Umbridge made a loud snort and Dumbledore seemed to relax a little.
"I'll ask once more, who and what are you?"
"Ah, difficult question. I can tell you Albus, who we are, but not what we are."
"Who are you then?"
"We are the marauders."
There was an eerie silence which the marauders all enjoyed immensely before continuing.
"We will never do anyone any harm. We want to wish you a happy Halloween! Everyone could do with a laugh and that's what we're here for."
Dumbledore smiled.
"I quite agree."
"Then shall we toast? To the marauders, to the headmaster and to the wonderful feast?"
"Indeed," said Dumbledore raising his goblet as the writing disappeared. All the students took theirs and raised them too. "To the marauders!"
They all took a drink, the marauders trying not to look over at the Slytherins, but soon there was no need to try. Everyone in the hall looked over at them as they all began clutching their ears and throats just like Addy and Sirius had done.
All along the table the Slytherins were sprouting animal ears and making animal noises, the rest of the hall roared with laughter again and Dumbledore called for silence as more writing appeared.
"Everything will reverse straight after the meal. Happy Halloween! The marauders."
"What do we do headmaster?" asked Slughorn worriedly
"Enjoy the meal," said Dumbledore, his eyes sparkling and his face shining with amusement "Tuck in!"
At once all the plates filled with high piles of food. The Slytherins were watching Dumbledore in disbelief as he settled himself down and started to eat. Umbridge was refusing to eat and sat with an indignant look on her face, whilst Filch was still sitting in some horror struck trance.
Finally when the laughter had died down everyone began to chatter and eat. The marauders talked gleefully casting delighted looks over at the Slytherins who were silently eating and feeling their ears.
"This is brilliant!" said James beaming as he turned back to the table "And look at Umbridge and Filch! I hope this evening lasts."
But it did the exact opposite and flew by. When the meal finished and all the plates vanished Sirius and James pulled their wands back out. They muttered the reverse spells with their wands under the table and sadly watched as Umbridge and Filch swapped back and the Slytherins regained their voices and ears.
Dumbledore beamed, thanked the marauders again for the laugh and bade everyone goodnight.
The Marauders and the rest of the hall left chattering and made their way to Gryffindor tower.
"Whoever those Marauders are, they're brilliant!" said a fourth year Gryffindor as he climbed through the portrait. "Real geniuses!"
"I know!" someone else replied "I wonder what they are?"
The Marauders grinned widely and made their way up the stairs. They were very tired and soon fell asleep after their long day. Remus was the only one who lay awake. Tomorrow he would be transforming. What could he tell the others? They had already noticed over the last week how ill he looked, perhaps he should just say he was ill and go down to Madame Promfrey. He sighed and once again thought longingly of a normal life.