Chapter 9 Firework displays and more discoveries

~George's POV~

"You have to give it to them, Fred, that prank was good." said George, sighing. "I can't believe we never thought of a way to take out the teachers like that."

"We'll have to use that trick sometime, George." Fred answered.

"After all, they did steal our canary creme idea."

"Yes, we're going to have to get them back for that."

"But how though? They're in the past." The two groups had been writing to each other all that week, and they had formed a sort of competitive friendship. Fred and George had duplicated Peter's notebook, and Peter had a copy of James', so they could all talk to each other (which was what they had been doing the whole time during lessons), sharing past pranks, and mocking one another. Often, they had all wished that they could meet up, but obviously this was absurd.

"We need to find out what that spell Wormtail used was. Then we could use that to our advantage." said George. "I have to say, I've been wondering about that all week. If there is a known spell that could transport items, surely it would be used for all sorts of things."

~Remus' POV~

After the success of the prank, the rest of the Marauders had gone up to their dormitory to boast to Fred and George about their 'glorious victory' in Sirius' words, of the twins.

Instead, Remus went to the library. The full moon was coming up, and he had a headache. Sitting in a room with an overexcited Sirius, not to mention James and Peter too wouldn't do anything to make him feel better. Anyway, there was some research he wanted to do.

A long time, and several books later, Remus came across what he was looking for. "(Not so) Basic Time Travelling for the skilled Witch or Wizard" was a very thick dusty book, which looked very long and complicated. He turned to the index, there it was, 'time travelling charm' above 'time turners'. He flipped to page 653, and started to read.

"The Time Travelling charm is one of the most complicated and rare spells a witch or wizard could hope to be able to perform. It includes a great amount of theory work to be able to cast it, and even then, only an exclusive few people actually have the magical gift to perform it accurately.

The last wizard to be recorded to have successfully cast the Time Travelling spell was Alpheus Higgulus, an experienced wizard in the year 1726. The last item that he managed to move forward in time was a quill, which his future self found in his own home, exactly where he charmed it five years before. Higgulus managed to perform the spell many times, before he was asked to stop, after a Muggle sighted the arrival of a moving portrait out of thin air. He continued to perform the spell however, and was taken to court for breaching the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.

The most gifted caster can send items as big as a broomstick, although this is extremely rare once again".

Remus scanned the rest of the page. It was all about the history of this spell! This was not useful if he wanted to find out about how the spell itself worked. The next page was similar, and the next.

Remus started flicking through the pages. No wonder the book is so bloody thick, he thought, it's all about the history of this spell! I bet I'll find it's the wrong spell in the end.

Finally, he eyes fell on the subtitle 'To perform the spell'

"To perform the spell, the witch or wizard has to tap object they want to travel with their want, and say the incantation 'Abstargent'. The object will give the appearance of blowing up, and a large cloud of smoke will be sent up from this explosion. This smoke takes the form of the person that has received the item.

Only another witch or wizard who has the ability to time travel items can receive the item that has been travelled, so sometimes, the person who has cast it receives it. This is quite common, because the person who receives the item is normally the closest able receiver to the sender."

Remus started. That must mean that both Peter and George must have this ability! That would explain the 'face in the fog' that Peter described, which no-one else saw. A simple mistake of Peter's had just made history. Remus grinned. He couldn't wait to tell the others. There was more.

"It is also possible to send an object back in time, although it has been used less frequently. The spell one has to utter is 'Retrorsum'. This will send the item back, in a way similar to the forwards spell.

Another point to note about this spell is that it is such a powerful spell, if the item is magical, or charmed, the charm will keep a connection with the time it came from. For example, if a wand is sent forward, the moment anyone casts a spell with it, the spell will happen in the past, exactly where it was cast. This is one of the many dangers of this spell. Also, if the object is charmed, once the person who charmed it lifts the charm in their time, the charm will be lifted in the new time."

Remus grabbed the book, and ran out of the library, Madam Pince shrieking behind him.

~George's POV~

Fred and George, we have something important to tell you. ~Moony

Moony's neat handwriting began to form on the page of George's notebook.

Moony has made an important discovery! ~Prongs

You won't believe it! ~Padfoot

It really is exciting! ~Wormtail

Can you just tell us what it is? ~Fred

I was in the library, and I came across something. Well, I'll let Wormtail show you. ~Moony

I hope you're not sitting in front of anything important... ~Padfoot

Fred and George had only time to look at each other in confusion, when a massive explosion blew them out of their seats. Like last time, George saw the cloud of sent up from the explosion form the shape of the face of a rather chubby looking boy, smiling proudly and brandishing his wand. The smoke cleared, and George sat up, and stared at the book that was now sitting on the table. "(Not so) Basic Time Travelling for the Skilled Witch or Wizard".

Turn to the page bookmarked! ~Padfoot

Still shocked, Fred and George turned to the bookmarked page, page 653, and George began to read.

"The Time Travelling spell is one of the most complicated and rare spells a witch or wizard could hope to be able to perform. It includes a great amount of theory work to be able to cast it, and even then, only an exclusive few people actually have the magical gift and ability to perform it accurately." George was so intent on reading this, that he didn't notice what his twin was looking at.

"Look George!" Fred said. "I think this is a photo of the Marauders!"

Sure enough, the bookmark, which George had ignored, was a black and white picture of four teenagers. They were laughing and waving, and George could have sworn the tallest boy, with thick dark hair mouth 'Hello Fred and George!' One, George recognised as Wormtail, from the clouds of smoke. The others however, were also vaguely familiar. The caption read "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs (from left to right.)"

"I'm sure I've seen Moony, Padfoot and Prongs somewhere before..." said Fred.

"I was thinking the same." George answered. He knew those faces from somewhere, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

We got your picture! ~George

Do you like it? We took it especially for you ~Padfoot

It's beautiful ~Fred

Now read the rest of the book! George, you can time travel too! ~Wormtail

~Peter's POV~

It had been a while since the last message. Peter assumed that Fred and George were reading the book, so the Marauders sat in anticipant silence, as they waited for their next message

Peter felt so excited to be the only one who could perform the spell (apart from George). He felt like he actually counted, and that he was not just the Marauder who tagged along with the popular guys. He was important, and the rest of the Marauders were very impressed. Peter loved that. Peter smiled to himself.

"What are you smirking at, Pete?" asked James.

"Nothing "answered Peter quickly. He was far too embarrassed to express his feelings about the way his friends treated him sometimes. Not now though. Now he was special.

Peter squealed in terror, as the now familiar cloud of smoke was let out, accompanying the large bang, as a box landed in front of him. George must have mastered the spell in the book!

It was a fairly large cardboard box, with a label, on the top. On the label, there was a picture of a pair of identical twins, with shocking red hair, and wide grins. It was labelled 'From the Weasley Twins'. Peter was about to open the box, when Sirius snatched it from his lap, and ripped the lid off. (So much for importance).

Immediately, there was a massive crash, and a scream from Sirius, as colourful light exploded in his face. Peter gasped, as more shots of light burst from the box, and filled the room. A beautiful (and very noisy) firework display began crackling and fizzing around the Common Room and Peter watched in amusement, as many Gryffindors started gathering in the room to see what had happened.

The flashing lights turned into shapes, and the shapes morphed into identical twin faces, and the colourful Weasley twins started chasing the startled Gryffindors around the room. Finally, after a lot of singed robes and eyebrows, the faces came together to form the initials 'WWW'. Peter wondered what these initials stood for, as he laughed with his fellow Marauders in admiration at the Weasley twin's invention.

Their laughter turned into groans of horror, as with a great crack, the initials vanished, and in place, stood Professor McGonnagall, who looked like she was ready to kill someone.

"Mrrs Black, Potter, Pettigrew and Lupin, proceed to Professor Dumbledore's office all of you. IMMEDIATELY."