Disclaimer: I own nothing, I invented none of the characters, except Luke, Orion,
Esmerelda, David, Headley and anyone else you don't recognise. I did, however,
invent the plot, so don't steal it. I also intend to make no money out of this
story, because if I did, I wouldn't be posting it here, would I? Anyhoodle,
enjoy!
Chapter 13: Preparations
It was a month and a half since the Great Fight that
had nearly gotten them expelled, and only a week until the end of the school
year. Every occupant of Hogwarts was in high spirits: students, teachers,
ghosts and even infamously bad-tempered caretakers. But nobody was more excited
and keyed up than five first years who were forced to hide it.
"I'm sick of being good!" Lily exclaimed petulantly
one Sunday evening. "It means we have to be boring like the rest of the
school!" James and Sirius nodded in agreement: they all now knew how boring
being good was.
"Why don't we play an end
of term prank?" James suggested excitedly, "I'm sure Dumbledore wont expel us
as long as its harmless." His friend's faces lit up with excitement at the
thought of a really good prank,
not the watered down rubbish they had been pulling recently.
"What about something on the teachers? Dumbledore,
Dunworthy and McGonagall all have a good sense of humour, so does Flitwick, and
they're the ones that matter." Lily said.
"What's your idea then,
then, Little Miss Clever?" James asked.
"I don't have one yet,"
Lily said a little sheepishly. They all thought hard, but Sirius couldn't sit
still for long and was soon pacing up and down. "I have it!" he yelled suddenly.
"What?" the others asked
eagerly.
"Got you!" Sirius laughed.
They glared at him, then forced their minds to think again.
"I think I have
something," Peter said tremulously.
"What?" they asked, more
cautiously this time. Peter explained his idea.
"Well…" James said. Peter
hung on his words. "It's just a basic plan so far, but I'd say… its quite
brilliant!" They all giggled conspiratorially, they began devising further
details of their plan.
*********************************
The unfortunate problem with the plan meant that they
had to do a lot of research, and this meant that they made another enemy, Madam
Pince the Librarian. They weren't exactly the quietest people, even when they
were supposed to be working, and she liked to have a quiet library: it gave her
credit as a good librarian. So consequently they came to blows and she threw
them out. To their disgust, they now had to heave whatever heavy library books
they wanted all the way to somewhere else, so naturally they began using their
secret room more and more, as it was nearer than the common room. They decided
they couldn't keep calling it 'the secret room' as this attracted to much
attention, so they decided to call it Kirrin, as the Famous Five were the only
Muggle books Remus and James had ever read, and anything wizarding was too well
known.
Kirrin was also the logical location to make the
potion they needed. For their immensely complex plan to work, they needed hard
work, something none of them were good at, and an incredible amount of good
luck. For they were planning to make an anti-ageing potion to whisk the
teachers back to being their eleven year old selves at the Leaving Feast.
They got even more nervous as the week went on. The
potion was very complicated, and even Sirius, a natural potion brewer like all
his family, was having trouble. The fact that they had all, even Peter, passed
every exam with flying colours did a lot to cheer them up in the middle of the
week. Even Headley hadn't been able to fail them, they had done so well.
School ended on a Saturday morning, so the Leaving
Feast started half way through Friday afternoon and continued for several
hours. Only Peter slept on the Thursday night, safe in the knowledge that the
others would deal with the trickier parts of the plan. Lily drove the girls in
her dormitory to distraction with her constant mutterings and soon left to go
to Kirrin, where she met the other three boys, and they spent the night in
constant vigil around the cauldron. As dawn broke, they were already ladling it
into the right amounts for each Professor, although it didn't need to be ready
until midday.
****************************
Eight hours later, Sirius sneaked into the kitchen,
closely followed by Lily and James. While Sirius was creating endless distraction
by asking the House Elves for every kind of food he could think of, (and that
was a lot), the other two hurried over to the kitchen versions of the
Professor's table and poured in exactly the right amount of potion for each
teacher. It had taken a lot of sucking-up to find out how old each teacher was,
and many of them had been very scared to find the five naughtiest students
suddenly so interested in History of Magic. The only way that they had been
able to do it was to ask about events in the year of the Professors birth, and
they were still amazed that it had worked on Headley and Malfoy.
As soon as that part of the plan was carried out,
they hurried out, and Sirius had to leave much of his food, which he complained
bitterly about, because their alibis rested on them being out of Gryffindor
Tower was as little time as possible. They were still congratulating themselves
on their alibi: David Potter was playing Remus at chess and they, of course,
were spectators. Who was a better alibi than the Head Boy himself?
The next two hours passed slowly. Their nerves were
at them, and Remus lost the game spectacularly. David would not hesitate to
brag about that game! By the time the feast was ready, they could barley
sit still, and they had to force themselves to walk down as normal, or as in
Sirius' case, bound ahead. Anything else would have attracted attention to
Sirius. As it was, a few people noticed that James and Lily weren't arguing,
mainly because both were running over the plan in their heads.
When they reached the Hall, they were surprised to
see it decorated in neutral colours. Dumbledore waited until everyone had sat
down, then began his speech.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am sure you have noticed the
lack of the usual décor in the Hall. It is, of course, because we have a
thoroughly gripping Championship race, and we thought we would keep you in
suspense a little longer. I will now read the House Points in the order of
those with the least points." He paused, and the entire Hall waited with baited
breath.
"In fourth place, with 489 points, Ravenclaw. In
third, with 501 points, Hufflepuff." There was polite applause: this had been
expected. Dumbledore paused again, letting excitement build. "It was very close
between the top two." The Hall collectively glared at him, as he paused yet
again, grinning. Many of the teachers were also laughing silently. "But the
Quidditch Cup tipped it. In second place, with 569 points, Gryffindor."
"FUCK!" shouted David Potter, seconds before the
Slytherins burst into delighted cheers, the rest of the Hall began to boo, and
the Hall itself was suddenly immersed in green and silver, including many
decorative snakes.
"Yes, indeed, Mr Potter, I would imagine you would be
feeling like that," Dumbledore laughed. "And for anyone who wishes to know, Slytherin
got 601 points." Dumbledore said when the Hall was quiet. "And now, it is the
end of the year, a very successful year, and we must do the most appropriate
thing: EAT!"
But before anyone could start eating, Orion Black
jumped to his feet. "I propose a toast!" he yelled, while the Hall stared
dumbstruck. It had taken a lot to persuade Orion to do this without knowing why:
20 Galleons in fact. "To the Professors, the students, a wonderful meal ahead
and to the House Elves who cooked it, and even to the Slytherins.
Congratulations everyone!" It was worth 20 Galleons just to hear Orion congratulate
the Slytherins, the five thought, not even counting what was coming next.
The Hall raised their glasses and drank as one.
Authors Note: aren't I a
dirty little beep beep beep beep beeping beeper for leaving the story here? Don't
worry, anyone who really cares, because the next bit is ready, and I just need
to type it up. However, I might post it soon, I might not. I really don't know.
Thanks to anyone who reviewed this story, and have a nice day!!!!!!!!!!!