Up front, I want to apologize for the incredibly long space between updates. My computer decided to brake down and there were so many complications…The guy kept saying that I'd get it back that weekend or whatever until dad finally gave up and got another one. Then I settled down for some serious writing time and guess what happened; not even a full day later the computer was messed up; something was loose in the power cord and it fused to something inside of the computer. But it's fixed. For now. And that was the shorter version sigh. Believe me, I feel just as bad about it as you; I was seriously fanfiction deprived.
Anyhow, I did fix a couple little things in each chapter, the biggest of which is that Draco can apparate now (and Harry still can't…or that's what they think) and also that there are still a couple weeks 'till the end of the summer.
And though I always claim my chapters aren't that good when they're first out, I feel that I'm a bit rusting after two whole months of not writing. So yeah, I'm not completely satisfied with this chapter. But it's extra long D
When will the notion of Harry being a half-dark angel come back again?
Hm…I'm not sure. It probably won't be used during the Marauder's era…maybe a few references every once in a while.
Are you going to have occasional scenes from the future?
This does open up a lot of interesting possibilities and fun scenes but the future is paused temporarily while Harry's in the Marauder's era. When he goes back to his time he'll be at the exact moment that he left it.
How is Harry going to the past going to affect the future?
Well I can't really say. It's one of those 'supposed to happen' things, so nothing that we know happened is affected in any way but his future after he gets back to his own time is already so different because of the whole reincarnation thing it's hard to say.
Can Harry use Snape's (future) group-apparate abilities as blackmail, and maybe let down the whole Gryff-mask? Will, in the past, Harry be unobtrusive and quiet, a small fry on the Slytherin hierarchy, or will something happen like someone tries to curse him and he winds up taking Lucius' spot as leader of the pack? How long until he finishes organizing his mind and becomes super again? Can you PLEASE stop with the cutting? What's up with Voldie? Is Harry going to kill him? Will Harry give him (Draco/Godric) his wand back? Who's Rowena and Helga? Or will they even be in the story at all? Do the other founders even know that Salazar suicided, or did they just think he disappeared? Will Harry help Sev get his spot as head of house back? Will Dumbledork still be headmaster?
Wow, that's a lot of questions in a single review. I'll try and answer as many as possible. Harry already decided not to use blackmail against Severus. After all, blackmail against a Slytherin is fighting fire with fire and likely to backfire. Evan's just that odd kid and the Slytherins don't really believe him to be one of them. At the time, Harry has no desire to prove himself to them and just leaves it at that; he's just ignored, not picked on. Harry can't truly get a hold on himself and organize his mind until he is at peace with himself or something like that. I don't like doing the cutting, either, but I can't stop…yet…Voldie will remain a mystery until I say so, as will Rowena and Helga's reincarnations (but they will have them). All the other founders know is that Salazar left and never came back. Everything else you just need to wait and see.
Remus is being rather protective of the new-be, isn't he?
Well, Remus is protective of his friends and it is his job to show Harry around and stuff. He feels a bit like he failed but letting Harry get pranked and letting him wander off like he did. Also, he sees that his friends are very wrong about some of their prejudices.
What if Harry forgets at some point and talks to them (his snake hair)?
Though Harry may not be, Salazar has had practice not talking to snakes when others are around that don't know his secret. Thought that doesn't mean he never slips.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Duh. If I did, do you think I would be writing fanfiction for it? It just doesn't make much sense, unless of course I had a couple experimental plotlines, which I don't. Well, I do, but it's all fanfiction. And I'm rambling.
:Mindspeech:
-Parseltongue-
Chapter Ten: Wars of Pranks
"And we can make it a big castle with lots of secret passageways and secret things!" Exclaimed Godric Gryffindor to his friends: Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff, and Rowena Ravenclaw.
His best friend, Salazar, smirked at him, "'Secret passageways and secret things'?" he drawled, "I thought we were building a school."
"The castle can be a school, you…"
"Now, boys, no fighting," Helga, ever the peacemaker, cut in before the argument had the chance to get nasty.
Rowena, the logical one, took it from there, "Yes, a castle would be useful and different," Laying the book she was reading gently aside, she picked up a roll of parchment and quill, "but perhaps not practical. Castles can be easily defended in times of war, but if it is a large castle with all those things Godric described, the students could easily get lost. On the other hand…"
"At times of war?" Godric interrupted, gaping at her, "There hasn't been a war for about…"
As he counted the years in his head, Salazar interrupted him, "Think long term, Godric. Sure, it's peaceful now, but eventually there will be a war, and if we want our school to survive through it, we'll have to make it safe. Try planning ahead for once."
"You're always so…morbid," Godric said, pouting slightly.
"But he's right," Rowena said, "Eventually there will be a war." That eventually would come a lot sooner than anyone expected.
"What did you want a castle for if not the defense they provide?" Salazar asked.
"But I like castles," Godric said dreamily, "They're so big and…fairy tail like." Salazar snorted, and Godric frowned, "But they are!"
Rowena looked up from the notes she had been jotting down, "What sort of castle is this going to be?" The others looked blankly at her. "Okay, we'll plan that sort of thing later. Basic layout?"
"We're sure we want to divide the school up into 'houses'?" Salazar interrupted. The others frowned at him.
"We've gone over this plenty of times," Godric said, looking slightly annoyed, "Houses will be good for the school. They'll help students find other people like themselves, and they'll encourage new students to get to know other members of their own house, as well as have some people to show them around."
"I'm sorry," Salazar said, looking at the floor, "It's just…I don't like the idea that we're dividing up the school. It seems sort of…I don't know…" He trailed off.
"Basic layout?" Rowena asked again, breaking the silence.
"Um…" Godric said, "Well…Classrooms, dormitories, a place to eat…"
"Helga, any ideas?" Rowena asked.
"Um…Not really," Helga replied.
"Salazar?"
"Towers?" Salazar asked after a thoughtful pause, "We never talked about those, but wouldn't they be important if the school were to be attacked? And they would be helpful if we are going to have an Astronomy class…What classes are we going to have anyways?"
"Good idea, I forgot about that…" Rowena said absently, her quill flying over the parchment, "So, what classes are we going to teach, and who's going to teach them?"
"I'm teaching Potions," Salazar said instantly.
Godric rolled his eyes, "Well, obviously."
"I've thought about the classes for a while," Rowena said, "I suppose we should make it so that classes could be added or taken off, but I think there should be classes for: Magical Theory, Transfiguration, Charms, Defense, Healing, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Potions, Divination, Ancient Ruins, Magical History, and Astronomy."
"That's eleven subjects," Salazar said, "There are only four of us."
"We'll manage," Rowena said, "But we'll have to hire some more people that want to teach." Godric and Salazar exchanged a look behind her back. It had not crossed either of their minds that the teaching staff would include more than just the four friends. While Godric was a little surprised, Salazar was mentally whacking himself for overlooking such an obvious fact.
"I want to teach defense," Godric said, "But is it magical defense or physical defense?"
"Both, I think," Rowena said, "Unless you want it to be just one of them. Is it all right if I teach Transfiguration?" The others just shrugged, not having any real talent in that class.
"And I suppose I'll teach charms," Helga said thoughtfully.
"Well, we've got four major ones, how are we going to split the other ones?" Salazar asked.
"We can just split it up and see how it works," Godric said.
"I'll teach Magical Theory, then," Rowena said.
"Healing and Herbology if that's all right with everyone…" Helga said. Nobody spoke against it, so Rowena scribbled Helga's name next to the two chosen subjects.
"I want to teach Care of Magical Creatures!" Godric exclaimed.
"I'm teaching Divination," Rowena said. The other three stared at her. "What? I like Divination," She said defensively.
"You just don't seem the type," Salazar said, shaking his head.
"Why not? Anyways, what are you going to teach? The only thing you've agreed to teach is Potions…" Rowena said.
Salazar shrugged, "I don't really care. I'll take Ancient Runes and Astronomy, which leaves Godric with Magical History."
"If you're sure…" Rowena said, writing his name on her piece of parchment. They grouped around the parchment, taking in their responsibilities. After a minute of this, Rowena sighed, "We just don't have enough people. And we'd need all sorts of other staff; a school nurse, groundskeeper, some sort of hall monitor…The list goes on and on…"
"What about that girl a year behind us," Helga said, frowning slightly as she tried to recall the girl's name, "Brown hair and blue eyes…Alwilda something…She's pretty well known for her skills in battle magic, but she was also interested in magical theory…Do you think we could get her to teach it?"
"We might," Salazar said thoughtfully, "Do you think we could find at least a couple others?"
"Probably," Rowena said, scribbling down a couple more things on her piece of parchment. They sat there for a minute as she did so, thinking about the project that lay ahead of them.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to design the dungeons," Salazar said. "Not real dungeons; just an underground portion of the castle," He added hurriedly, seeing their faces, "Um…How about this? We each have our own part of the castle. Our house's 'territory', we can call it. We can make it so none of us know exactly what's in each other's territory. The classes are neutral, of course. We can make it a sort of game to try and…" he paused, thinking, "Find a secret room! Each of us can have our own secret little room that the others try to find."
"That sounds like fun!" Godric exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Sounds…interesting," Helga said.
Rowena frowned, "Yes, but how are we going to build it? I thought we were going to link our power and have one person control it, but a huge castle? That would take ages! And now we each have a part of the school that only we know about…"
Salazar looked thoughtful, "The linking thing is a good idea; we just need to modify it a bit. It would take a while, but we each have a considerable amount of raw power at our disposal. We just control the link while we are making our own parts of the castle, I suppose. That way, nobody will know exactly what the other's parts of the castle's are like…"
Harry woke as the vivid dream ended. It wasn't a nightmare, per say, but a memory of happy times more haunting than many nightmares. He rolled over and tried to sleep, but sleep didn't come to him, despite the early. He got up and got dressed so silently that someone right next to him would have to strain their ears to hear the rustling of fabric.
The night before, he had been worried about crushing the snakes that had previously been his hair by rolling over in his sleep, so he had used a quick charm to remove them from his head. Harry had never really seriously considered getting rid of the snakes because a) he did not like getting rid of transfigured snakes (or making them in the first place); b) he liked them; and c) he wanted the marauders to be overconfident, because it would make them easier to prank. Now Harry quickly reapplied them to his head, and headed down to the kitchens to ask a favor of the house elves.
He took the long way through the dungeons, giving him an opportunity to talk with the snakes, who agreed to sleep or at least be quiet during lessons, when nobody was around. He hesitated for a second next to the painting of the bowl of fruit that marked the entrance to the kitchens. If he pranked them now, they would probably guess it was him…But maybe not and he really needed to prank someone. If he waited a bit, he could frame it on somebody else…Ah whatever. The Gryffindor impatience was starting to get to him.
When Harry got back to the room that he shared with Snape, he found his roommate still asleep (like he had expected him to be, it was still early in the morning, after all). He got out a potions book and began to go through it. He had had little time to read his books over the summer where nobody would see him and wonder when he had gotten them, so he still knew little about modern potions. Harry had not had time the day before to visit the library, and he couldn't read any of his own books, since he wasn't supposed to have any, so he settled for the potions book that he had found on his bed in Gryffindor tower along with the rest of his school books.
Severus woke an hour later and Harry noted that he was an early riser. In the future, that could be the valuable information as he couldn't afford a mistake of any kind.
"Early riser?" Snape asked, looked the tiniest bit surprised that Harry had woken up so early.
"Well, its pretty exiting, you know. This new school and all," Harry replied smoothly.
They got ready for classes and made their way to the Great Hall together. Severus sat at the Slytherin table, of course, and Harry, after a minute's hesitation, did the same. They chatted as they ate but, in the natural manner of Slytherins, kept their voices down so as not to be overheard.
Halfway through a sentence, Severus stopped talking and stiffened slightly. He quickly resumed conversation, though it seemed a little more forced. Harry looked at Severus questioningly and then in the direction of his gaze. The Marauders were entering the Great Hall. Harry had to wonder how they had such an effect on Severus that the Slytherin would react like that. Of course, it was usually wise to keep an eye on pranksters when they were around, for they rarely pranked out of their range of sight, especially the more arrogant ones.
Harry noticed that Remus seemed a bit more…distant with the other Marauders than the previous day. Being the bright little Slytherin that he was, it did not take Harry very long to assume that they had a fight, or even the subject of the fight. He felt a little bit guilty about breaking up the Marauders, but they really did behave like jerks towards Slytherins.
Remus looked around the hall just then and caught Harry's eye. The slightly Gryffindorish Slytherin watched a brief exchange of words between the Marauders before Remus hurried over to the Slytherin table. The werewolf didn't sit down (that would have been rude and extremely hazardous to his health) and declined Harry's invitation to do so. He seemed extremely nervous to be in Slytherin territory, but not more so than Severus who all but stopped breathing. Oh right, the werewolf incident. That would explain it.
"Hi Remus!" Harry said, instantly more Gryffindor, "Did you sleep well?"
"Very well, thank you…How about you?" Remus asked, remembering the nightmare that 'Evan' had had a couple nights ago.
"I had a very pleasant dream, thank you for asking," Harry said politely.
"Er…Yeah. Um…So I'll meet you after breakfast to show you the way to our first class?" Remus asked.
"Thanks, but its Potions and both of my houses are taking it together. I'm sure that Severus can show me the way," Remus did not miss the first name usage, "It's more convenient that way. But I'll see you in Potions, or at least in the next class which is…History of Magic, I think."
"Okay, I'll see you then," Remus hurried back to the Gryffindor table. He did not talk much to the other Marauders and had curiously started up a conversation with Lily Evans by the end of the meal, despite James's jealous glares.
"Why are you so friendly with him?" Severus asked venomously as he glared at the Gryffindor's retreating back.
"Well it wouldn't due to upset one of my guides, would it," Harry said casually, "And he's quite nice. Politer than most of the rest of the Gryffindors, at least."
"He's a…"
"Gryffindor, I know," Harry interrupted Severus, perfectly aware that 'Gryffindor' was not the word that was about to come out of the Slytherin's mouth, "But some Gryffindors aren't that bad, you know."
Severus just made a noise of disgust and continued eating his breakfast, though he did not attempt to resume the conversation. Nevertheless, by the end of breakfast they were talking again and they chatted quite merrily all the way down to the Potions classroom.
Professor Blythe, Harry could tell at first glance, knew very little about Potions. Oh, she was nice enough, but her type was more adept at teaching a less dangerous class, like Charms or Herbology. Those classes were dangerous enough as well, of course, but a Potions professor needs a thorough knowledge of what ingredients reacted violently with each other and a strong enough power over the students that they did not fool around; this teacher had neither. In less words, the atmosphere for this class was very similar to the one in Charms, which is really not a good thing when each student is working with dangerous ingredients.
She had started the class off with a 'Grab a partner, dears, we're brewing Navitas potions today' and apart from that had not said more than a handful of words of the subject. Harry immediately paired up with Snape, as did James and Sirius. Remus, however, paired up with Lily, leaving his usual partner, Peter, in an awkward position. In the end, he paired up with the girl that Lily usually worked with, one of Neville's mom's friends.
Severus and Harry worked quite well together, and each was delighted to find out about the other's extensive knowledge of potions. Snape openly displayed his disapproval with Professor Blythe, as did most other Slytherins, and spent a good portion of the class criticizing the professor and telling Harry exactly what he'd do if he was the Potions professor. Harry added his own comments, just barely keeping the laughter from his face and voice.
Potions ended quickly and they said goodbye to each other before each heading to their respective classes. Harry caught up with Remus only a short while later and they went to History of Magic together. Remus seemed a bit wary of around Harry, but after a short while, Harry's open Gryffindorishness set him at ease.
History of Magic was as boring as ever but Harry spent most of it passing notes to Remus and sometimes Lily, who, by her notes, disapproved of passing notes in class but admitted that the way Binns taught it, it would be a lot easier to just look up the material later. It was one of the most enjoyable History of Magic classes he had ever had, even counting all the ones with Ron and Hermione.
After the class, they went down to lunch, where Harry was faced with the very difficult decision of choosing which house to sit with for lunch. He didn't want to abandon Remus and Lily again so soon, but at least they had each other to talk to (and, perhaps, the Marauders), while Severus couldn't talk to anyone around him. In the end, he promised the two Gryffindors that he would sit with them for dinner and went across the hall to sit at the Slytherin table. Severus was disgruntled with Harry's promise to sit at the Gryffindor table at dinner but reluctantly appreciated the fact that Harry had chosen to sit with him for lunch and the conversation soon turned to a more cheerful subject. It was then that Severus brought up a very interesting subject.
"It's all because of that stupid rulebook!" Severus exclaimed angrily, glaring across the hall at the Marauders, "They shouldn't be able to get away with hexing everybody left and right!"
"Rulebook?" Harry asked, interested.
"Everybody knows that Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettegrew are the Marauders, even though it's supposed to be some big secret. But there's this rulebook, supposedly written by the 'first Marauders of Hogwarts' or something like that. It pretty much gives them the right to prank anybody as long as it doesn't interfere in any way with homework or classes. They practically worship the thing."
Harry nearly choked on his food. He didn't think that that old thing was still around. Godric and Salazar had made it pretty much as a joke, but later decided that it was a pretty good idea and wove the rules it into the wards. They had signed it using their nicknames, which was where Harry assumed that the Marauders derived their own names. Salazar had been Silverfang, Godric had been Goldenclaw (affectionately known as 'Tufty'…Oh how he had hated it), Rowena had been Talon, and Helga had been Stripe. Rowena had been the one who had made them agree to put in the part about homework and classes…He was nearly crying again. Why did something from the past pop up whenever he thought he had everything resolved?
"Evan?" Severus asked, concerned with his companion's sudden silence.
"Hm? Oh I was just thinking about that. Do you think we could set up a prank or two? I mean, if we can't be caught…" Harry said, thankful that his mask hadn't slipped.
"You know, we could!" Severus said, "But…I don't know…I've never pranked anybody…"
"Then you've really got to try it! Come on it'll be fun!" Harry added, seeing the uncertain look on Severus's face, "We could completely humiliate the Marauders; I bet they've not used to rivalry."
"Rivalry?" Severus said disbelievingly, "You want to rival the Marauders in a…a prank war or something?"
"It sounds like fun, doesn't it?" Harry asked brightly.
"You're insane! Completely and totally insane!" Severus exclaimed, just barely managing to keep his voice down, "I don't know a thing about pranking!"
"Then I could teach you!" Harry said enthusiastically.
"You're mad," Severus repeated. There was a pause in the conversation, "You really could teach me?"
"Sure, it'll be fun!" Harry said. He glanced at his watch, "But that'll have to wait until later. I have to go to Herbology." Severus looked at his own watch, cursed, and hurriedly got up. He left the Great Hall nearly at a run, calling a goodbye as he went.
"I'll see you sometime tonight," Harry called, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He ran out towards the grounds and was lucky enough to meet up with Remus and Lily. The Marauders (apart from Remus) were glaring daggers at him, but Harry pretended not to notice.
Herbology and the free period after (sixth years seemed to have a free period before dinner everyday to work on the large amount of homework that they were assigned) passed extremely quickly. Harry didn't manage to slip off again, as both Remus and Lily cornered him and forced him to get started on his homework.
Sooner than Harry thought was possible, it was time for dinner. He sat between Lily and Remus again and they chatted quite merrily, though Harry couldn't help but feel a bit guilty still about leaving Severus alone at the Slytherin table.
"Am I the only one of us who thinks the Marauders are okay?" Harry asked in disbelief, halfway through dinner.
"Oh come on Evan, they pranked you! You must see that they're total jerks!" Lily exclaimed angrily, "Right Remus? You know them best."
Remus looked uncomfortable,
"I don't know…They are my friends, you know. They may behave like jerks, but they're the best friends anyone could hope for." He was starting to feel sorry about getting mad at them like that. They had stuck by him even when the figured out he was a werewolf, and had even become illegal Animagi for him. Remus decided that he would talk to them that night, apologize.
Lily was shaking here head in disbelief,
"They're arrogant jerks!"
"Maybe you just need to get to know them better," Harry suggested with a smirk, and couldn't help the Muggle children's song that popped into his head, though he was wise enough not to repeat it out loud. He valued his health, after all. Lily and James sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…
Lily was about to reply when a sudden hush fell over the Great Hall. She turned to look, gasped, and started giggling. James had giant antlers sticking out of his head, and his ears had turned deer-like and covered with light brown fur. His feet seemed to be swelling up (Harry was forcibly reminded of Aunt Marge) but when they burst free of his shoes it became apparent that they were hooves. James wasn't the only one affected; Sirius was completely covered in black fur with a pair of dog ears and a dog's tail sticking out of the seat of his pants; Peter had a long, rat's tail, whiskers, and rat's ears; and Remus had only a pair of wolf ears and a wolf's tail. Harry had been careful with Remus's charms so he did not appear to wolf-like but more of a dog.
Lily stopped laughing when she saw Remus had been similarly charmed,
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to laugh at you!" But Remus wasn't paying attention; his gaze was fixed above the teacher's table, where silver writing hung in the air in the same fashion as the writing that the Marauders used to mark their pranks.
'To Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs:
For too long have you tormented the school with your pranks which have, of late, become more personal to many students. Pranks are fun, yes, but not so much for those at the receiving end. Last night was the last straw; you actually targeted a student in your own house, which is against to the Marauder's Code. You may say 'but he's not really in our house, is he?' He is in both Gryffindor and Slytherin; did not the Sorting Hat itself say so? I leave your fate to the aforementioned Slytherin-Gryffindor.
Enjoy your new look (it lasts as long as his does),
Silverfang'
Harry had, of course, written this himself, and he was quite proud of the effect that it had on the students. The entire Great Hall was so quiet you probably could hear a pin drop.
"Well," He said, standing up, "I suppose it is up to me to decide what to do with you. I do regret that I don't know more about this 'Marauder's code'. I suppose we shall have to settle this the way I choose fit. A full out prank war until a truce is called," he glanced at Remus, "Should be fun, eh Remus? And now, ladies and gents, I'm going to bed. Good night to you all." And with that, he left the Great Hall down to the dungeons. He could hear the roar of hundreds of students shouting, cheering, and talking loudly to each other to be heard over the turmoil.
Twenty minutes later, Severus walked into their room to find Harry lying on his bed, reading a book.
"What was that?" he asked.
"That," Harry said, "Was fun. Oh, I gotta do that again sometime."
"You're crazy," Severus said, shaking his head, "So, am I still in?"
"Of course," Harry said, "If you want to."
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"Look, guys, I'm sorry about hanging around with Evan today," Remus said to his friends. They were back in their dorms, each on their respective bed except for Sirius, who was pacing. Normally, James would be pacing, but the hooves were distracting so Sirius had taken over.
"Excused," Sirius said at once, "I…I know that I was a bit…prejudiced against Evan because he's a Slytherin and all…But you know, he isn't that bad. A prank war! We haven't had a challenge forever!" Remus had to smile. They could be arrogant, prejudiced jerks sometimes, but there weren't better friends in the world.
"I still don't understand how you managed to talk to Lily so much," James said sulkily.
"But you know what's annoying about him?" Sirius asked, ignoring James, "He has had snaked for hair for only a day and he pretends they don't exist. And the snakes just went on sleeping all day! I mean, what was the point of that prank?"
"It started the prank war, remember," Remus said, "But I suppose that we should release his prank or we'll be stuck like this for a while."
"About this prank war…" James started. The Marauders had been challenged, and they had every intention of winning.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
And so the prank war has begun. I need prank ideas for anytime, anyplace. Prank war rules are a lot more open than normal pranking rules, but most pranks will be pulled in the Great Hall during dinner.
You know, any one of you can e-mail me to chat anytime. My e-mail address is at a link from my profile. I get so bored over here some times. Thinks of ways to bribe you You can pester me to update…I might even give you a few hints about later in the story…