Chapter 18

Revealing the Prank

When they walked into the Great Hall, they were nothing short of speechless. It looked amazing. It almost drove all thoughts of their prank away, almost. They couldn't wait to litter the walls with the dragon blood.

They were one of the first ones there, though not the first. All the teachers were already sitting at the table; McGonagall and Dumbledore were talking with worried looks on their faces. They laughed when they realized the chances were that they were talking about the Marauders.

After about fifteen minutes, all of the students were there and Dumbledore began to speak.

"Now I know that we have all had a rough day, but I hope we can put that aside long enough to enjoy this wonderful feast. I'm sure tomorrow will bring enough worries that can wait until tomorrow. For now, let us just enjoy ourselves, but be warned. I have sent for a little bit of help in catching whatever these Marauders are. A few Aurors from the Ministry of Magic are going to be searching the building and helping us find the culprit behind these attacks." The Marauders stiffened. James whispered in Sirius' ear.

"Now!" he said urgently hoping that revealing the prank would keep the Ministry of Magic away. Sirius nodded and hid his wand.

Now don't go through so much trouble on the account of us!!

The entire school gasped as they read the writing that was being written on the wall. The Marauders were here. All of the teachers stood and pulled out their wands.

Well isn't that a nice welcome. I assume you didn't have much fun in our little game then.

Dumbledore's face became rather hard and cold. "And I assume you are these Marauders I've heard so much about."

Nice to meet you too Albus.

Sirius chuckled it was actually rather cool that he got to call the headmaster by his first name. Dumbledore wasn't amused though. "What did you do to the students?"

Business before pleasure I see. Very good, we like that about you.

Dumbledore looked angry. "What did you do to them!"

Tisk tisk tisk, didn't your mother ever warn you about that temper of yours.

I suppose I have no choice but to tell you then don't I.

You don't need to worry about them we merely petrified them.

Dumbledore sighed attempting to control his anger, getting mad would not help him when they were so obviously trying to get a reaction from him. "We know that already. Reverse the effects." He ordered.

Very good. Not many people can control their anger like that. We're impressed.

If you already knew what we did then why did you ask? Hmm?

Like I said earlier you don't need to worry about your students, we just wanted to have a little fun.

McGonagall was enraged. "Fun! You call this fun, attacking students, petrifying them possibly forever. Is this your idea of fun?"

Ohh yes, this is quite fun. Your reaction was the best of them all Minerva.

Sirius laughed again. He really liked calling the teachers by their first name. James and Peter were looking around the room at people's faces. They didn't want to miss a thing. Remus was watching Professor McGonagall. Her face was turning red very quickly.

Oh and it helps that we actually know what is going on, unlike you.

Dumbledore's look became a little softer; it was looking like he finally understood. "And what pray tell is going on?"

We thought you would never ask.

There was a short pause.

You see, what would Halloween be without a little scare. Hmm?

The Great Hall quieted. James and Remus were giving Sirius ideas of what to write.

Your students will all wake up exactly at midnight. Completely unharmed. Oh and don't bother asking them if they saw us, they won't remember a thing.

There was a huge sigh of relief when Sirius finished writing. McGonagall finally calmed down. "You mean they aren't in any danger at all?"

None what so ever! See what fun!! We must thank you, we haven't had this much fun in centauries.

Dumbledore laughed. There was obvious relief in this laugh. "I suppose then congratulations are in order. You have won the game." Dumbledore bowed. There was silence for a while, everyone seemed to expect more writing on the wall, but there was none. Sirius decided it would be a good time for them to stop. Suddenly there was a loud cheer from everyone. They were all so relieved that they wouldn't be next and that their friends would return to normal. The Marauders cheered with everyone else. They were somewhat relieved that it was over. They didn't have to worry about being caught anymore. The food was the best they had ever had.

The first thing they did when they back to their dorm was dump the last bit of dragon blood out the window. There wasn't enough left that anyone would notice anything but a falling jug. They had done it. They had probably made Hogwarts history in just one day, but now, they were just eleven-year-old kids, who had probably only gotten ten hours of sleep all weekend. They were asleep before the even realized they went to bed.

A/N) This chapter was really short. I hope that didn't hurt the quality of it too much. I'm really proud of the past four chapters, they were surpisingly easy to write. Thank God that writers block steared clear of me.