Rosters and Retribution
'James, the list is up!' Frank exclaimed as he burst into the dormitory, red-faced and excited.
James sat up on his bed, all thoughts about Lily and Remus gone from his mind. 'The Quidditch roster?' he asked eagerly. Frank nodded, 'C'mon let's go check!'
James threw a pair trousers on over his boxers and hurried down the stairs. There was already a small crowd around the board, and James pushed and prodded his way through to the front.
'There you are Potter!' said Dorcas Meadowes, joining him in front of the sheet. You and Longbottom both made the squad as Chasers.'
James and Frank clapped each other on the back, wearing matching grins. James looked over the roster and saw that Dirk Cresswell was the third chaser of course, and the Prewett twins were returning as the beaters. He then scrolled his eyes down to the 'seeker' position.
'Alice made it!' Frank said giddily. 'Just wait until she finds out!'
James felt himself grinning widely. In better spirits than before, he made his way back to the dormitories to tell the others the news.
The weeks passed by quickly after the Quidditch rosters had been posted for each house, and the weather became progressively colder and windier as Halloween approached.
For the Marauder's however, the weeks leading up to Halloween were not spent frolicking around the courtyard or hexing random students in the hallways, but on planning their retribution against the Slytherins who had attacked them. Namely Mulciber, Avery, Rosier, Regulus and Snape.
Sirius had been the first one to suggest that they prank the Slytherins on Halloween night. He had explained some of his ideas to them in the dormitory and after they worked out some of the finer kinks, they were all satisfied with their work. Even Remus seemed excited to put their plans into action.
A week before the feast, their plans were further improved by the addition of the Prewett twins, who were notorious pranksters themselves. They had strolled in on James, Sirius, Remus and Peter discussing their prank in front of the fire one night, and demanded to be involved.
'Hmm,' said Gideon, raising an eyebrow as he looked over the parchment Remus was scribbling on. 'Not bad at all.' He handed the parchment to Fabian.
'I can't wait to see the looks on their faces,' Sirius cackled. 'They won't know what hit them!'
Fabian exchanged a glance with his twin, and then leaned forward. 'This is neat stuff,' he whispered with a weary look around the common room. 'But there are several parts to it that we believe could use a bit of… revamping, if you catch my drift,' he said with a glint in his eye.
And so, the Marauders formed an alliance with the Prewett twins and devoted all of their free time to the preparations. James and Sirius made good use of their map by setting aside locations for key parts of the prank. The twins found the map highly impressive and congratulated Remus, who flushed at the praise.
The twins themselves had said that they would take care of getting the materials, something that had worried James ever since they had begun planning. Where in the world would they get 'Filibuster's Fireworks,' or 'Friendly Fire' without leaving the castle? However, the twins simply grinned mysteriously and disappeared for a few hours, before returning with their arms laden with merchandise.
Remus had done most of the planning for the prank, so him and Peter were simply on look out duty, to avoid arousing suspicion from anyone else.
When they were finally satisfied with all preparations, the Prewetts instructed them not to speak to them on Halloween in order to avoid suspicion.
'Good luck chaps,' Fabian winked as they disappeared into the dormitories.
James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were the only four left in the common room now. James stared into the flames, feeling satisfied. If Snape wanted to play dirty, he should have realized that two could play that game, he thought with a smirk.
Halloween was always a massive occasion at Hogwarts. Students could never pay attention in class and the atmosphere was both chaotic and jovial. The professors had worked together to decorate the Great Hall with black and orange candles, floating pumpkin heads, and even a colony of bats that flew around the hall, screeching loudly. The corridors of the castle were also embellished with skeletons and bright orange lights that floated near the windows.
The exciting mood extended to the Gryffindor common room as well. After the last class of the day, the Gryffindors held something of a mini-party to 'warm up' for the feast.
James was chatting excitedly with Dorcas about the upcoming Quidditch season. On the other side of the room, Sirius was flirting with some third year girls—he kept running a hand through his wavy hair the same way James always did with his own hair, and James felt a mad urge to laugh.
'He's quite the charmer isn't he?' Dorcas commented. James chortled in response.
'Speaking of love, what do you think about those two?' Dorcas whispered as she pointed to a couch in front of the fire, where Frank and Alice were seated away from the rest of the commotion. They were speaking animatedly about something from the looks of it.
'Lovebirds if I've ever seen a pair,' Dorcas laughed. 'I wouldn't be surprised if they kissed by the end of the year, no—the Quidditch season,' she declared.
James chuckled, 'Actually, they aren't even going out—yet,' he said to a shocked look from Dorcas. 'What? I thought—I mean, just look at them!' she spluttered.
Alice was now laughing heartily at something Frank had said, and smacked him playfully on the arm.
James shrugged nonchalantly. 'Everyone goes by their own pace,' he said. 'Frank hasn't even admitted to us that he's sweet on her yet.'
Dorcas snorted, 'I don't know why he hasn't just gone and confessed already,' she muttered.
James sighed, 'I mean, take me and Evans. If you think Frank and Alice are slow, then what are we… snails trying to swim across an ocean?'
Dorcas laughed at his analogy and glanced over at Lily, who was speaking with Remus. 'Well for starters,' she said teasingly. 'Frank and Alice are clearly made for each other.'
James feigned offense. 'Me and Evans are perfect for each other!' he declared.
Dorcas rolled her eyes. 'You two seem to me at least, more like… polar opposites.' She said thoughtfully. 'But who knows,' she amended with a pat on his back. 'I'm starting to feel that I'll never be surprised by anything in this school.'
The Great Hall looked magnificent by the time the students made their way down and took their seats at the four tables. The professors had even enchanted the floating pumpkins and candles to spin around the hall, casting an eerie, flickering glow on the room. As the other second years stared around them in awe, James turned and caught Sirius' eye.
This was the moment they had been waiting for. James excused himself to go to the restroom, while Remus subtly flicked his wand at the pumpkins hovering above the Slytherin table, starting the timer.
Based on their observations, their Slytherin targets would most likely come down to the feast late. This gave the others time to acquaint themselves with those around them, so that if anyone were to ask later, James had been sitting innocently in the Great Hall all along.
When he was out in the corridor, James moved into a light jog down to the dungeons where the Slytherin common room was located, throwing on his invisibility cloak as he did so.
When he arrived at the common room, James stood to the side and waited. A few minutes later, he was just beginning to wonder if they were even going to attend the feast, when the door opened and Snape came sulking out, his greasy hair falling over his face.
James watched as Mulciber, Avery, Rosier and finally Regulus followed after him. As soon as the door shut closed with a loud bang, James whipped out his wand and pointed it at their backs.
He muttered the incantation and then whipped out his mirror. 'Sirius!' he whispered. Sirius' grinning face appeared on his mirror. 'Did you cast it?' he asked. James nodded.
'Right, I'll get going now then,' he said and disappeared.
James pulled off the invisibility cloak and said in a loud, clear voice. 'Where do you think you're going you gits?'
They whirled around at the sound of his voice.
'POTTER!' Snape's face contorted with fury. 'What do you think yo—'
He didn't have time to reply as he suddenly noticed something crawling up his robes.
'Severus you're on fire!' Regulus wailed. Bright red flames that had started at the hem of Snape's robes were now climbing their way up his sides. That was the friendly fire that the twins had procured from Hogsmeade.
'I noticed now help me put it out you dolt!' Snape said furiously as he stomped on his robes. James chanced a glance at the balcony and saw Sirius' mane of black hair disappear. He stifled a laugh and turned back on Snape.
'Feeling rather hot?' he goaded. Mulciber, Avery and Regulus suddenly found themselves on fire as well and Snape's face was turning purple with rage. 'You will pay for this Potter!' he snarled. 'Just wait until I get my hands on you!'
James smiled coolly as he walked up to Snape. 'You know,' he said casually. 'That fire's not going to go out anytime soon.'
Snape ignored him and kept stomping on the flames to no avail.
James threw up his hands in mock frustration, 'I keep telling you Snivellus, it's no use. I charmed it to burn forever!'
For a moment, Snape looked fearful, but then his mouth twisted into a savage grin. 'You're bluffing,' he said coldly. 'You can't charm fire to last forever, that's against Gamp's Law!'
'Well I suppose I just broke that law. And now, there's only one-way to remove the flames,' he said.
Regulus looked terrified. 'Just tell us how to get rid of this fire!' he cried, ignoring Snape's glare.
'Ah, one of you actually knows common sense,' James smirked. 'You see it's really simple,' he said slowly. Regulus was leaning in to hear him.
James walked up to Snape. 'All you have to do is take a shower,' he said simply. 'Take a shower and you'll get rid of all that fire; if you're lucky, you might even get rid of that grease Snivellus!'
Snape spit at him but James nimbly stepped aside.
'Tut, tut, tut Snape, what would Evans say if she saw that?' he grinned. He got up in Snape's face, completely serious.
'Now you know what happens when you mess with the wrong blokes, Snivellus.'
He turned to the other Slytherins. 'Forgive me, but I'm afraid I can't entertain you for the rest of the night,' he said as the Prewett twins appeared out of nowhere, flying on school brooms.
'Ah look, your ride is here!'
Fabian and Gideon swooped in on the terrified Slytherins with menacing grins on their faces. They flicked their wands and the hands of Snape, Rosier, Mulciber, Avery and Regulus were suddenly tied to the backs of each of their broomsticks.
'Hey what are you—' Mulciber began but with a great whoop, the twins were off flying into the entrance hall, the hanging Slytherins screaming in fear and anger as they swung around precariously.
James wiped tears of laughter from his eyes as he sprinted into the Great Hall to witness the climax of their prank.
He was right on time; Fabian and Gideon had each pulled out a handful of Filibuster's Fireworks and with a spectacular 'bang!' they flew into the stunned Great Hall with the Slytherins hanging on for dear life. Behind them, the array of fireworks morphed into the frightened visages of Snape and his gang, glowing bright red and gold.
James joined Sirius at his seat and they high-fived each other. Some people were on the ground, crying with mirth. Even Remus was guffawing at the sight. So much for avoiding suspicion, James thought as the Prewett's continued to race around the hall. He turned and saw the angry faces from the Slytherin table and couldn't suppress a grin.
'Oh well,' he thought to himself as Professor McGonagall swooped in on him. 'It was definitely worth a detention or two.'
