THIS IS A REPOST OF CHAPTER 13!
Hey everyone! Remember me? I am finally done with exams and back to updating!
Thanks for all the reviews for the previous chapter! I really loved reading them all.
Thanks a lot to JustinneXD for all the great prank ideas. I really had no idea what to write till I read those ideas. I've used some of them in this chapter with a little modification. Thanks so much!
I'm really sorry about including almost no interruptions by James and Albus in this chapter. It was already quite long so I didn't want to add any. Coincidentally this happens to be the 13th chapter. I actually like the number 13...You'll know what I'm talking about when you read the chapter. Since McGonagall is narrating the story, the parts where she comes in during the Marauders time is in first person.
I really hope you like this chapter!
Please do review!
Disclaimer : I am not JK Rowling. Hence, I don't own HP.
"The story of Friday the 13th is a strange one," began Mary in a low, mysterious voice. She was holding her wand under her chin and the light from it formed eerie shadows across her face. Gryffindor was having a "Scary Story Session". It had been two weeks since the girls had decided to prank the Marauders. The Session had been filled with the usual stories of zombies, vampires and other bloodthirsty creatures of the magical world. Mary was telling them the last story. IT was rather lame, but they had noticed that Sirius and James weren't too fond of scary stories and it was important that this should be the last one they heard before going to bed.
"There once lived a group of boys of our age who were very fond of pranking others. They were quite oblivious of other people's feelings and continued with their arrogant habits." Lily glanced sharply at Mary; she was making it a little obvious.
Alison took up the story, "One day, they went too far and hurt many people. Two young maidens were particularly angry. Unlike the others, they weren't afraid to take revenge on those cocky fools. They did not sleep or eat for seven days straight but devoted their time to summon the spirits of conscience. They set the spirits on the boys."
Alice continued, "The spirits had no particular name but they were collectively called Anti-Claus as they punished the bad boys just as Santa rewarded the good. On the 13th of that month, a Friday, nothing went right for the boys. They went around, inviting trouble. They insulted their friends and apologized to their enemies. Nothing went right that day."
Lily finished the story, "All day, they could hear the spirits whispering in their ears. They only left the boys alone at the stroke of midnight when the day had ended. Ever since then, Friday the 13th has been the day that wrongdoers are punished. And that's not all. Tomorrow is the 7000th time that they will seek out mischief makers and punish them by forcing them to listen to their conscience. And according to the legend, the spirits were summoned for the first time, right here at Hogwarts."
Everyone was quiet for a moment till Wilson Davies; a seventh year spoke, "That was lame," Everyone laughed.
"I agree with you, Davies," said James.
"What's the matter, James? You look a little shaken. Have you made anyone miserable lately? Are you afraid that the Anti-Claus will come for you tomorrow?" asked Mary, smiling.
"No!" said James quickly, "It's just a story."
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that," she said.
The Marauders – except Remus – looked slightly unnerved. The girls smiled as they entered their dormitory.
"Stage one, complete," said Lily.
X-X-X
The next day, Remus was awakened by a loud thump from his right. He stirred and looked around to see Peter on the ground and still snoring slightly. The room seemed brighter than usual. He looked around for his alarm clock.
"Oh Merlin!" he exclaimed, leaping out of bed. "James, Sirius, Peter, wake up! We're going to be late!"
"It's too early Remus, go back to sleep," mumbled Sirius.
"It's 8.15 you moron! We have fifteen minutes to get to Herbology."
"What?" exclaimed three boys together, sitting up immediately. They scrambled out of bed quickly. They made it down to Herbology only five minutes late. Sirius was moaning about the state of his hair. James was sweating like a pig and starting to smell like one too thanks to their mad dash from the dormitory to the greenhouses. They hadn't had breakfast either. Peter and Remus were looking disheveled and panting.
"Come on," said James, opening the door of the greenhouse.
"Sorry we're late Professor – UGH!" said Sirius. He'd stepped straight on a mimbulus mimbletonia.
"Sirius!" yelled James wiping his glasses to get rid of the Stinksap he and his friends were now covered in. He put his glasses back on to find a very astonished sixth-year class staring back at him. Then, everyone burst out laughing. Even Professor Sprout cracked a smile at the sight of the stinksap-covered boys.
"Who left the Mimbulus Mimbletonia there?" she asked.
"Sorry Professor, I thought I'd left it on the stool by the door," said Frank Longbottom, a Hufflepuff sixth year. Professor Sprout waved her wand and the Stinksap disappeared but the embarrassing memory was etched in everyone's heads. They were still smirking as the Marauders sat down.
The lesson continued without interruption except for the time Lily's bouncing Bulb bounced off and smacked James hard across the face. ("Come on Lily! Even your plants like to slap me," James had yelled.)
"Just one bulb? I'd have thought you'd release the entire tray," muttered Alison.
"Oh, I'm just getting warmed up. Wait till we get to transfiguration, Alice and I are unleashing our not-so-noteworthy Transfigurations skills on them," replied Lily.
"Not fair, I don't get to see that," pouted Alison.
"Don't worry, we'll be sure to get Sirius for you," said Alice.
The bell rang and the Gryffindors headed for Transfiguration. During the walk back to the castle, the Marauders tried to fix their uniforms before they got back to the castle.
"Today is not our day," sighed Remus.
"Everything's going wrong," grumbled James.
"I know – ouch! What's this?" said Sirius, unfolding the piece of paper that had hit him in the face.
"It's this month's calendar, just crumple it up," said James.
Peter gasped, "Look at the date. It's Friday the 13th today. Remember Mary's story? What if the Anti-Claus has come for us?"
"That's just a story. And Anti-Claus is a really dumb name," said James but he looked slightly disturbed.
"So you don't believe in me?" whispered a voice in his ear, just as a cool breeze swept across his neck.
"What was that?" he said jumping.
"What was what?" asked Sirius.
"Nothing, it must have been the wind," said James. HE looked quite distracted now.
Behind them, four girls were trying not to break into a giggling fit.
X-X-X
They managed to reach Transfiguration without incident. I was making them practice Vanishing Spells. All the students were struggling to Vanish their rats. Lily's rat only had its hind part left and Alice's rat was headless. James and Sirius had managed to Vanish their rats already and were talking at the back of the classroom.
"Do you remember that prank we pulled on Barney Stone last week?" asked James.
"Oh yeah, making his pants invisible served that Slytherin right," said Sirius.
"It's not as amusing when it's your turn to be humiliated though," chuckled a soft voice.
They both turned around, but there was only the wall behind them.
"It's probably just Peeves," said Sirius nervously.
"Hey Moony, did you hear anything?" asked James.
"No, I was too busy trying to Vanish my rat," said Remus. Peter wasn't in Transfiguration.
James and Sirius tried to sit still but the voice kept chuckling behind them, "Are you scared yet?"
Sirius finally cracked. "Get lost!" he yelled firing a jet of pink light at the wall. Unfortunately, it bounced off and headed straight for me. I deflected it easily.
"What's going on there? Potter, Black, sitting at the back of the room after you've finished is no excuse for you to disturb the others," I said sternly.
"Sorry, Professor. We thought we heard Peeves behind us," said James.
"Peeves is currently in the Astronomy Tower repositioning all the telescopes. Mr. Filch was on his way up there I believe. If you wish to hear imaginary voices, you may join Professor Morgan in Divination. But if you're going to attack walls as well, I'd rather have you here at the front. Come on, move up here," I said.
The boys had no choice but to obey. They took up seats right in front of Lily, Alice and Mary. I walked around the class, observing everyone's progress.
"Well done, Miss Andrews, Miss Evans. You're getting much better at Vanishing," I said, pleased to see that both girls only had their rats' tails left. I waited to see if they could finish Vanishing their rats completely. Just as the girls waved their wands, James and Sirius stood up suddenly. Everyone looked at them startled and the girls jerked their wands up, hitting the boys with their Vanishing spells.
The class roared with laughter as Sirius' and James' pants vanished revealing identical pairs of heart-patterned boxers.
Remus was shaking with laughter as was most of the class. Some of the girls actually whistled and even I couldn't help smiling. The boys, however, were as red as Lily's hair. They'd stood up because they felt as though they'd been jabbed with a pin and suddenly, their pants were gone. I restored order to the class and Conjured up their pants with a wave of my wand.
"As Miss Evans and Miss Andrews demonstrated, it is far easier to Vanish inanimate objects. And as Mr. Potter and Mr. Black demonstrated it is important not to distract people who are working complex spells. More practice for homework, you may go," I said just as the bell rang.
Alison met them on the stairs as they headed to the dungeons for Potions. "How'd it go?" she asked.
"Perfect," said Mary, "Who knew they wore identical, heart-patterned boxers? Did you get the Potion ready?"
"Yeah, we can slip it in at lunch. I managed to freak Pettigrew out with the voice too," said Alison.
"Good, let me get Remus to hear it too," said Mary.
Meanwhile, the Marauders were discussing the strange happenings of the morning too.
"See Remus, even Peter's heard the voice. It's got to be that Anti-Claus thing. And don't say spirits don't exist, we've seen enough ghosts round this place," said Sirius.
"It's just coincidence. Maybe you all ate too much for dinner yesterday," said Remus.
"Come on, Moony. This can't be coincidence. We've been embarrassed twice, we were late to class, and nothing's going right. It's exactly like Mary's story," said James.
"Okay, if that were true, why can't I hear the voice too? I'm as much a Marauder as you are," said Remus.
"Maybe it's because you haven't been as bad as us," said Peter.
No sooner had he said that than a voice said softly, "So you finally came to the right conclusion. Don't worry Remus, I haven't forgotten you."
"See," hissed Sirius, "it's him."
"Guys," said Remus, "I think we're about to atone for our sins."
The Marauders gulped.
X-X-X
Slughorn decided to do something "fun" for their class that day.
"Cosmetic Potion," he said. "I'm sure the girls will enjoy this class and the boys will end up with something to give their girlfriends for Christmas. Be careful though buys, she may interpret it as a criticism of her looks. Don't want to get hexed now, do we?" he said jovially.
Some of the boys laughed nervously. Most of the Slytherins just wrinkled their noses.
"Choose one product that you wish to make. Instructions are in the book and ingredients are in the cupboard. Be careful though. Just as using makeup is a delicate art, making it is even tougher. Measurements and ingredients must be exact. Get started then," said Slughorn.
"Hmmm….looks like the Marauders are getting a makeover," said Mary.
"Why do we have to make Cosmetic Potions? I hate makeup," groaned Lily.
"You're making it because it counts for your exam. Besides, Alice will use it, she loves dressing up," replied Alison.
"Hey, there's nothing wrong in being a girl occasionally," said Alice.
"Okay, that's enough talking. Lily, you take care of our potions, we don't want our cauldrons blowing up. Alison, overhear what the Marauders are brewing and report back," said Mary.
"Yes ma'am," said Lily and Alison.
"Okay, Remus and Peter will take care of the lipstick while Sirius and I will work on the hair dye," said James. The others nodded and started on their work. Twenty minutes into the lesson:
"Hey, where's the measuring cup?" asked Sirius. He and James checked under the table and straightened up again.
"It's right here idiot," said James pointing at the table.
"That's strange, I could have sworn it wasn't there a minute ago," said Sirius.
"Don't add that Peter. It'll turn the lipstick blue," said Remus suddenly grabbing Peter's hand.
"But I thought I had red dye in my hand," said Peter looking puzzled.
"You'd better take extra care of your Potions today," murmured the soft voice again. The boys shuddered. They had to concentrate harder now to avoid and more public humiliation. But, when Remus was checking the book, their potion mysteriously turned green. When Sirius and James were searching for the next ingredient, their scales grew just unnoticeably longer, not enough for them to notice but enough to upset their potion.
"Right, we've got to add exactly 5ml of armadillo bile," said James.
"Who knew makeup comprised of such ghastly ingredients," said Sirius. He measured out the bile and poured it in. Their potion suddenly turned a garish shade of pink and the cauldron began rocking violently.
"What's wrong, Mr. Potter?" asked Slughorn from his desk.
The cauldron was rocking harder now. "Oh Merlin, she's going to blow!" yelled Sirius. Everyone dived under their tables just as the cauldron exploded, causing other cauldrons around it to explode too. Most of the students were lucky enough to avoid getting splashed, but the Marauders were completely drenched in a cocktail of potions. Everyone emerged from under their tables.
"Is everyone all right? Anybody hurt?" asked Slughorn, crawling out from under his own desk. A few people had splotches of dye in their hair or blush on their faces where they'd been hit. The Marauders however, were a completely amusing sight. Sirius had neon pink hair. Remus had blush and green lipstick. Peter's hair had glittery green patches and his eyes were lined with so much mascara, that he looked like a vampire. James' eyes had glittery blue eye shadow on them and his hair was a very violent shade of purple. His nails were bright red.
The Slytherins fell over each other laughing. The Gryffindors weren't' much better. They'd stop laughing, point at the Marauders, and burst into laughter again. Slughorn was trying in vain to regain control of the class. He finally managed it a few minutes before the bell. He assured whoever had been splashed that the effects wouldn't be permanent since no one had completed their potions and the colors would fade by the end of lunchtime. The girls were chortling as they passed the Marauders on their way to the Great Hall.
"That was amazing. It looks so much better than I thought it would," said Lily.
"I know! It's a good thing Slughorn decided to do Cosmetic Potions today," said Alice.
"Ready to slip the Potion into their pumpkin juice?" asked Alison. They nodded. Just then, Snape walked past.
"So that's why you were waving your wand under the table? To make sure he got a faceful of potion?" said Mary, looking at Lily.
"Well I never really took my revenge on him. This was the best opportunity," said Lily, not looking particularly apologetic.
"Wow, his lips are so red, it looks like he borrowed Snow White's lipstick," said Alison, grinning at Snape's face.
Meanwhile, the Marauders were debating on whether or not to go to lunch.
"I can't be seen like this. Look at my hair. My poor, beautiful hair!" wailed Sirius.
"Stop being so dramatic, look at my hair," snapped James.
"I'm hungry," said Peter.
"We could always go to the kitchens," said Remus.
"No way. McGonagall almost caught us last time. She'll have a lookout there," said James, "If only I'd brought the Invisibility Cloak with me."
Sirius sighed, "I never thought I'd say this, but I really don't want to go to lunch."
Lunch was not a pleasant affair that day for them. With everyone coming over to make fun of them and laughing, the girls found it quite easy to slip in the potion that would make the Marauders' afternoon even worse.
"Are the magical bugs working fine?" asked Lily, "It would be a pity if the creepy voice didn't work out now."
Alison checked the small walkie-talkie-like device in her hand. "It's fine," she said, "Oh, not again."
The girls looked around to see the same brunette that Sirius had been snogging a couple of weeks ago. She squeezed in between Sirius and Remus with a sickly sweet smile. He smiled back at her and started talking to her.
"Oh, I would really love to see that potion in action now," muttered Alison.
Right on cue, Sirius said, "Your breath stinks."
The brunette drew back, "Excuse me?"
"Your hair smells even worse."
"What? I just washed it this morning."
"With what? Hippogriff dung?" said Sirius, clapping a hand to his mouth immediately. Somehow, he couldn't stop the words.
"That's it. You're a jerk and if you were hoping for a break up, you've got it. That might be your idea of how to break up with a girl but let me show you mine!" screamed the girl. She slapped him hard and walked away.
James stared at Sirius incredulously, "What's up with you?"
"I don't know. It just came over me. Maybe I'm allergic to one of the Potions ingredients," said Sirius.
"No, you're not. It's just me again," whispered the voice.
"Oh, not you again," moaned James.
"That's right. You're going to be insulting your friends and apologizing to your enemies all evening," said the voice.
The boys groaned.
X-X-X
The afternoon progressed the same way. Sirius got slapped by about six more girls, Remus got detention for "being cheeky" in DADA. James got slapped by two girls and ended up losing about 30 points for making fun of Professor Flitwick. Peter nearly got himself attacked by four big Ravenclaws after he suggested that their house emblem should have been a chicken. The Marauders finally walked into the Great Hall for dinner. They looked at the Slytherins.
"No, please no," said Sirius as an overwhelming urge to apologize came over him.
"Oh yes," chuckled the voice.
All four boys suddenly went down on their knees and said together, "Oh dear Slytherins, we apologize for all our pranks. WE are so very sorry for humiliating you numerous times in public."
The silence in the Hall couldn't have been louder. Even Dumbledore seemed shocked.
"Curse you, Anti-Claus!" yelled Sirius looking at the ceiling. Everyone stared at him and burst out laughing.
"That was just a story," yelled someone. Just then, huge firecrackers lit up the Hall in red and gold. They formed a huge Santa Claus and spelled out the words, "MARAUDERS, YOU HAVE BEEN PRANKED!"
"A prank? This was all a prank?" stammered Remus.
"But who could have pulled this off? It was amazing," said James.
Dumbledore smiled, "Judging by the artistic nature of the fireworks, I'd say a girl was responsible. Would the young lady or ladies please stand up?"
Lily and her friends stood. They were Gryffindors after all.
"You did all this?" asked Sirius, stunned.
"Of course. And we only broke three rules," said Alison, smugly.
Dumbledore talked to me for a moment then turned to the girls, "This truly was a day Hogwarts will remember. You avoided detection by the teachers and the Marauders as they call themselves. I'm sure that many would agree that these boys have been getting a little out of line and we have decided not to punish you girls. I must say, I was quite impressed with your magic, especially the fact that you must have mixed a Demeaning Draught with a Penitent Potion without the two counteracting each other's effects."
"So that's why we've been doing this all afternoon?" asked James.
"Yeah," replied Mary.
"And the Anti-Claus' voice?" asked Peter.
"Magical bugs. Shake out your clothes tonight," said Alice grinning.
"All the other coincidences are because of us too," said Lily.
Dumbledore smiled at the boys who were quite astounded, as the girls walked back to Gryffindor table.
"They're intelligent," said Peter.
"No Peter," said Sirius, voicing the thoughts of James and Remus as well as they stared after the girls, "they're hot."
"Okay, that was one successful prank," said Albus.
"I learnt two things today, and I'm very glad I didn't learn the second thing by personal experience," said James. "For one thing, I got quite a few new prank ideas."
"What's the second thing?" asked Albus.
"'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.'"
Please review! Let me know what you thought. Can I get at least five reviews again?