A/N: This was written for The Houses Competition, Round 2 and the Golden Snitch forum's Tiggerific Times challenge. Points should go to Slytherin house for the Houses Competition and for TGS, 5 points should go to Horned Serpent of Ilvermorny; thank you!

Houses Competition Prompt (drabble): The forbidden forest is forbidden for a reason

TGS: (character) Minerva McGonagall

Word count (not including A/N): 797

Something bounced off of the back of Sirius' head and landed under his chair. He turned in annoyance to James, who was smirking in his direction, and then silently looked to see what had hit him. It was a ball of parchment - a note. He picked it up and read:

Found some acromantulas in the forest last weekend. Thinking about doing something during Moony's time of the month.

Sirius turned and gave James a thumbs-up while throwing the note to Peter. He read it out of McGonagall's sight and looked fearfully between the two, but Sirius wasn't worried; he always came around in the end. Remus remained oblivious. Sirius and James both knew that he'd never let them attempt if he knew their half-formed plan.

James signaled to his to friends that he'd talk to them after class.

"A tea party!"

"A tea party Padfoot? Really?"

"Why not? I don't see you with any good ideas!"

"Fine, we'll do a tea party."

Remus backtracked from carrying his library books to Madam Pince. What were his friends planning?

"So, who's hosting the tea party?" He asked, sneaking behind Peter, who jumped.

"Remus!" Sirius, the worst liar of the group, cried. "We were just talking about the, you know, the tea party that we told you about, with um, um…"

"-Slughorn!" James saved him. "The tea party with Slughorn! He's still bent on getting Sirius to come to his fancy gatherings, you know, being a Black and all."

Remus, not believing it for a second, but knowing he wouldn't get anything else out of his friends, said, "Oh, okay… You guys should get to studying. OWLs are coming up soon." He walked away from the group's complaints about his shoving the exams down their throats as well as the teachers, forgetting about his speculations the next day.

"Okay, it's 10:30. You got the stuff?" Sirius asked, checking his watch.

"Yes, I have everything." Peter replied.

"I still don't understand why we're doing a tea party." James complained.

"I still don't think this is a good idea in general."

"Shush, Wormtail, you'll be fine. James, I told you, I want to see what happens when you feed an acromantula tea; I heard they get drunk. Besides, it'll be the first werewolf/animagus/acromantula tea party in the history of the world!"

"Fine. Pomfrey should have left the shack by now. Let's go."

Wormtail transformed into a human, setting up the tea and herding the acromantulas into a clearing while Prongs and Padfoot held Moony back. Then he gratefully transformed back into a rat. He didn't like the Highly Discouraged Forest in general, but acromantulas terrified him. He scuttled on top of Padfoot's head while Prongs led Moony to sit at the blanket. The tea poured itself and (with some difficulty) the Animagi and werewolf drank while waiting for the acromantulas to wake up.

Once they finished their tea and the spiders still hadn't woken, the Animagi played games with each other and Moony out of boredom. They got so wrapped up in their game that they didn't notice the stirring acromantulas with their eyes training on the four figures with hunger.

Padfoot, pausing for breath while being chased by Prongs, noticed that the forest was silent no longer. There was a clicking surrounding them that seemed to vibrate the very air. He looked back to Prongs and saw a paw of pincers feet away from him. Padfoot took a running start and jumped toward the acromantula, baring his teeth. Prongs brayed and ran away, startling Moony and Wormtail. None of them knew what happened, but eventually, the foursome was being chased out of the forest with a clan of acromantulas on their tails.

Minerva McGonagall, unknown to any of her students, took an early walk every morning. She had been doing this for as long as she'd been teaching, and had seen some pretty bizarre things along these walks over the years.

But she had never seen a clan of tea-drunken acromantulas stumbling around the edge of the forest next to telltale werewolf tracks. She didn't have any proof, but she just knew that

Potter, Black, and maybe Pettigrew, had something to do with it.

None of the students, save three, knew why there was notice in each of the common rooms saying:

The forest at the edge of the grounds was previously labeled the Highly Discouraged Forest due to various dangerous creatures residing there. Even with these warnings, it seems that some students haven't been discouraged enough. Therefore Hogwarts' staff finds it necessary to rename the forest the Forbidden Forest. Students caught in the forest will be punished accordingly.

Or why Potter, Black, and Pettigrew could be seen scrubbing random hallways and classrooms over the two months following the notice.