Thursday morning, there was an unnatural hush over breakfast.

"Why is everyone whispering?" Peter asked.

They only had to look at the front page of the Daily Prophet.

James read the paper first, saying nothing.

"What happened?" Sirius cranked his neck to peer over James' shoulder. "Oh."

The picture for the article said enough. A house, windows ominously dark, door open a crack, and in the black sky above….

"It's the Dark Mark again," James said. "He's done it again."

"You Know Who?" Peter said.

"Yeah."

Elias Robin, thirty three, was found dead in his home on Wednesday night with his two daughters and wife Selene. The Dark Mark was found in the sky when he was discovered in the entryway. The rest of his family was found in the kitchen.

It has been confirmed that they died because of the killing curse, which is popular with You Know Who and Death Eaters.

"It's becoming less and less common, a day without some type of attack," dark wizard anylist Timothy Thiez commented. "Plenty of people are found dead due to the killing curse, but only certain murders are marked. I don't doubt that the same people are behind them, but when the Mark goes up, it means You Know Who is making an example."

Robin was very clear on his beliefs on blood prejudice. He was known in Cornwall for his activism for muggle rights.

"I'm not surprised. He was attracting a fair bit of attention and it was bound to get back to him. It's a pity that they went after his girls as well," a neighbor says.

There is no information on where You Know Who might be at the present time, nor information on the Death Eaters.

"Well," Sirius said, breaking the hush that had fallen over the boys, "you know what this means."

Remus nodded, examining the paper. "It's getting worse."

"No- I mean, it is, but that's not what I meant. The school could use with some cheering."

"Yeah. What are you thinking?" James said. "Something simple, something big, something Marauder-y, something-"

"This time an entire family was killed," Remus said quietly. "It might be insensitive to pull something after this happening."

"Insensitive? Remus, they need cheering!" Sirius said passionately. "Look at everyone- they look like muggles that have seen a jarvey!"

"Muggles don't see jarveys," Peter pointed out. "And if they did, I don't think that's how they would look."

"There was a case where one bloke saw one, and I'm sure that's what they'd look like, but that's not the point. The point is, they're all in shock and the best way to get them out of shock is to get back to the normal routine, where we're plotting stuff and they're worrying."

"They're already worrying," Remus said.

"About some crackpot zealot, not us. We need to fix that. Lord Voldywhoever had better watch out, because we're the only ones who have the right to cause our fellow students anxiety."

"Sirius, I don't think-"

"We're doing it," Sirius decided stubbornly.

"Remus has a point, though," James said. "We should wait a few days, until Saturday at least, until we do it. That'll give them time to panic and us time to plan."

"Brilliant," Sirius said. "I was thinking that we should do something with the teachers. Any ideas?"

"Remember when we did that aging potion last year?" James said.

"We can't repeat anything, that isn't Marauder-y," Sirius said. "Use your brain, James! Think really hard."

"I was going to say, what if we spiked their drinks with something that would make them float or something?"

"Just make them float? That's third year material!"

"What about making their voices project with one of those charms?"

"Again, third year material."

"What if we did that spell- we might have used it second year, or at least looked it up- that would make the teacher sing opera and then projected their voices?"

"That's a bit better, but if we did use it, we can't do repeat it."

"Maybe you should try looking in the library," Remus suggested. "There are loads of spells in there."

"Alright, then. That's your job for tonight," Sirius said. "In the meantime, James and I will keep thinking, and Peter will pass me the bacon."

Peter sighed and handed over the plate of bacon.

Transfiguration, History of Magic, Charms, and Divination all went on as usual. If not for the fragile tone of some of the teachers and the murmurs of the students, it would be impossible to tell that something had happened. Lunch was slightly better than breakfast. There were still the whispers about the attack, but intermingled were small conversations about less dark things.

"Everything will be fine by tomorrow or the day after," Sirius said on the way to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

The lesson proved him wrong.

Moody was standing in the front of the classroom when the class of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws took their seats.

"You've all heard about what happened last night, I assume," Moody said sharply. "Voldemort went after another one. Does anyone remember the curse that he used, not only in this attack, but in the past ones?"

Everyone knew, but no one seemed to want to say.

It was a full minute before Lily raised her hand slightly. "The killing curse."

"Yep." Moody looked around at them gravely. "Every time the Death Eaters Strike, it's always the killing curse. Hoover! What's the spell to block the killing curse?"

A Ravenclaw in the back of the room gave a start. "There- there isn't one."

"Exactly. In order to make it out of a situation where a curse like that is used, you can't use shield charms. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

The class jumped.

"We're going to talk about the technical points of the attack. Think how Dark Wizards think. Black, I saw you reading the paper this morning. Name one detail."

"The guy was a muggle rights activist."

"Yep. Jones, another."

Hestia didn't look as though she was enjoying being put on the spot. "Er, there were four people killed."

"Boot."

"It happened in Cornwall."

"Prewett."

Fabian and Gideon both started talking.

"He was killed in the front of the house-"

"The rest of the guy's family was murdered in the kitchen."

"Yep, and yep. Stein."

"The Dark Mark."

Moody nodded, writing the details on the chalkboard. "The Dark Mark. Do any of you remember what Thiez said in the article?"

A Ravenclaw raised her hand tentatively.

"Spinnet."

"Not all the attacks on muggles or muggleborns are marked."

"What else did he say?"

"When You Know Who sends it up it's to send a message."

Moody looked at the class carefully. "In the past two years, there have been forty reported attacks on muggles and muggleborns where the Killing Curse was used. Only six of them, starting earlier this year, have been marked. Many people at the Ministry do not believe that these attacks are all liked. However, there are connecting to them all, whether the Ministry sees them or not.

"The first link is the most obvious; muggles, muggleborns, or muggle supporters are always the victims. The second, also obvious; Avada Kedavra. The third; in homes. Never in public. Fourth; untraceable. There is no way to trace the users of the Killing Curse. Fifth; in England, Scotland, or Wales, all on the same landmass. There are more, but those are the most relevant.

"Now, take away these core factors. What is different about this attack? Evans."

"The rest of the family was killed," Lily said. "His daughters and wife."

"Yep. Now think. What message does this send?"

The room was silent.

Remus was the first to speak. "Voldemort won't discriminate between men, women, or children."

"And where did you get that?"

"He could have left the others, they weren't fighting him based on what the article said. That rules out the idea of him murdering anyone who gets in his way, target or not. It doesn't make sense to kill them unless it was for his entertainment or to prove a point. If it had been for entertainment, he wouldn't have sent up the mark."

The corners of Moody's lopsided mouth turned upward grimly. "Exactly. For your assignment, I want you to write a foot on the attack and the message behind it. Explain why the attack took place, why it is relevant in tracking Voldemort, and how it could have been prevented."

"Betting the answer to that one is 'constant vigilance,'" James muttered.

"Probably," Sirius agreed.

September ended with the school in a unnerved mood. Things had almost gone back to normal, but there was still the grim reminder of what was happening outside of Hogwarts. With their attention focused on the Daily Prophet, none of Hogwarts noticed the Marauders plotting.

"Remember how we did that game of Marco Polo?" James said. "What if we did a different game."

"A different game? What kind of other water games are there?" Sirius asked. "I only know that one."

"It doesn't have to be a water game," Remus said. "If we want to have it done by the weekend, we might have to come up with something else."

"I know!" Peter exclaimed. "What about that one game with the lava?"

"The Floor is Lava?"

"Yeah, that one. What if we put lava in the Great Hall-"

"Definitely not."

"We could charm the lava to not burn people or the tables," Sirius said. "Peter, you're a genius. How does the game work?"

Peter began explaining the rules to Sirius.

"Remus, your job is to find the spells to make the lava not burn stuff." James said. "Except for maybe Snivellus, he's fair game."

"Where do we plan on getting the lava?" Remus said. "I doubt you can find it just laying around at Hogwarts."

"Leave it to me," James grinned.

It took longer than anticipated.

After searching the library on Friday, Remus had found only one of the spells they would need.

"You took two hours!" Sirius said. "Why couldn't you find it?"

"The first one was a variant of the flame freezing charm, so it wasn't terribly hard, but the second charm, the one for the furniture was harder to find," Remus explained.

"There's a whole library of books. It should be easy to find it."

"Exactly. There's an entire library to check," Remus said.

"You can't take time to check the entire library, we've got to have it happen on Saturday," Sirius said.

"Well, mate," James said, "if you're so invested in the prank being done tomorrow, why don't go help?"

The only argument Sirius could make was, "It's the library! The only good part of it is the Restricted Section."

"Come on, it's terrible, but bearable."

"It has to be true because it rhymes," Remus said wisely.

Peter nodded from where he was enjoying a chocolate frog. "Rhymes are usually true."

"'Come on' doesn't rhyme with 'terrible' or 'bearable,'" Sirius argued.

James sighed. "That's not the important part, and anyway, it's not like you eating through Peter's candy stash is helping anyone."

"I would like to propose a vote," Remus said. "All Marauders in favor of Sirius staying and eating through Peter's candy stash, raise your hand."

Sirius was the only one to raise his hand.

"All Marauders in favor of enlisting him to help go through the library, raise your hand."

James, Remus, and Peter all raised their hands.

Sirius did not look excited.

"Can't I just help with the lava?" Sirius complained. He and Remus had been in the library for all of twenty minutes.

"I think we need a spell for that, too. James didn't say how we were getting any," Remus said, opening a thick book.

"He said he was going to get some from the Room of Requirement," Sirius said. "Here, is this the spell we need?" He slid the book toward Remus.

"No, that's just the flame freezing charm, we need a version that will work on lava and on furniture."

"So the same charm won't work?"

"No."

"Bugger."

The Marauders were finally ready on Monday night to set it up.

"Alright, let's get under the cloak. Sirius, we'll drop you and Peter off at the Room of Requirement. Remember, don't cast the spell until it's been at least a half hour. Remus and I will take care of the Great Hall, then come get you after." James threw the cloak over them.

"We won't be able to fit all of us under this for much longer," Peter noted, looking down. "It's barely covering my foot."

"That's because you're short and the rest of us are tall," James said. "Well, tallish. I don't think any of us have anything on that Hufflepuff in History of Magic."

"Still, if anyone sees us-"

"No one is going to see half of a shoe," Sirius said. "Come on."

With that, they left the dormitory.

The Marauders had a game to set up.