Chapter 2 - A Plan set in Motion
Nor did whatever it was disappear from the boy's mind during the next week. While at first he had been one of the people chuckling in class about the new divination project, even making fun of James' and Peter's anxiety, he was now himself quite anxious, especially after they had filled out their questionnaires for the Love Match charm two days ago. So anxious, in fact, that he'd almost forgotten about the newest prank the Marauders had planned.
Only when James nudged him during one particularly boring History of Magic lesson - Dwarven mining politics indeed! - and passed him a note did Sirius finally come back to the task at hand - or rather, at the current state, at mind.
They had agreed upon the different roles they would play in this particular mischief beforehand. Peter was to use his artistic talents in creating the actual object. James, ever the diplomat in their small band, was to recruit a fifth player in their midst, though the additional culprit would be quite unaware of the purpose of his task. Remus, the only one amongst them who had the actual serenity to stand a particular person without going totally bonkers about it was to drop hints to aforementioned person about a certain long-nosed member of the Slytherin house. And Sirius had what they all agreed on was the most difficult, if not the most trying task of all.
Or, in other words, recruit Peeves the Poltergeist to work on this prank alongside the Marauders. Without, it may well be mentioned, buggering up their plan beforehand by announcing it to the whole school and their father's dogs.
It was he himself who had thought up this particular ingenuity. And, quite fittingly, it had been the ludicrous words to "Potter the Pink" that had inspired his idea. After all, who better to come up with a devious - if not artistically valuable - song than the most devious songwriter of all Hogwart's in the past three hundred and fifty-two years?
So did it come to pass that on the evening of Saturday, February Fifth, one sixth year Gryffindor boy could be found not in his bed, or the common room, or even in the school's kitchen - though he had planned on a short raid once his task was completed - but creeping up a stairway in the east tower of the castle. Well, to be precise, 'to be found' was probably the wrong term. Sirius Black was, after all, a Marauder, and equipped only with the best accessories.
James' invisibility cloak loosely fitted around him, the hood pulled up as to make him completely invisible to any human onlooker, Sirius Black could only be spotted by the small, dimmed light of his wand and a corner of the Marauder's Map protruding from under the cloak.
Twice already he had, by pure chance and quick thinking, escaped the piercing stare of Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's evil cat. The boys had long found out that invisibility cloaks only worked on cats in the daylight, for some strange reason, and even then only in combination with a scent-blocking spell.
And still, no sight of Peeves, the damn bugger!
Of course, equipped with the Marauder's Map, it should have been easy to spot the darned berk. And indeed it was, but whenever Sirius had arrived at the room where Peeves had previously been the room was empty, and the small dot labelled 'Peeves' was in the next room, or the one below, or indeed the other end of the castle. Damn those stupid ghosts for being able to sift through walls!
Though Sirius had to wonder how the Poltergeist could evade him so swiftly. After all, invisibility cloaks may not work on cats at night, but they bloody well *do* work on ghosts. Either Peeves had spotted him by the light of his wand and had then decided to play a game of find and catch, or the blasted scoundrel was just off on his usual 'castle business'.
So far, Sirius had followed him to the Astronomy tower, the Slytherin dungeon, the upper left tower of the southern castle wing. And now, finally, the east wing. It seemed a perfectly erratic route. But there had to be some plan behind it, right? Unless Peeves was just enjoying one of his fits of altering random staircases, or replacing all the castle portraits whilst their inhabitants were off somewhere else as to annoy them, or...
But, of course! The teaching rooms!
Quickly, Sirius pulled out the map and connected all of Peeve's spots of interest with his finger. The Astronomy Tower's teaching room. The Slytherin Dungeon - Professor Battery's classroom. Professor Flitwick's... McGonagall's...
Smugly, he put away the map. Peeves was heading towards old Professor Atkinson's classroom, so much he knew. Time enough to go to one classroom Sirius was *sure* the Poltergeist hadn't been to yet.
A couple of minutes later, Sirius arrived at the staircase leading up to Madame Dubois' cosy little classroom. The faint scent of rose oil and incense was still in the air, not enough to be choking but still managing to make the small room seem stuffed. Pink and purple plush cushions were lying around everywhere, some on chairs, others stocked in a corner, yet others arranged to make a kind of divan on the floor. The windows were draped with heavy brocade curtains, which Sirius pulled back with some effort to let some air into the room.
He did not have to wait long for Peeves to approach the room, cackling and muttering to himself.
"He, he, he. Exorcise poor old Peeves from the castle! Don't think so, no sir. They think Peeves is stupid, they do, but not with me, they won't. Now, now, think, Peeves. Where could it be? They're too clever to hide it in the Defence Room, but not clever enough to outwit Peeves the Poltergeist." The ghoul chuckled to himself. "Where's this, now. La chamber de Mdm. Dubois. Dubois. Dubois, Dubois, 'ave you got that skull of moi?"
Sirius shook his head in confusion. The Defence Room? Exorcise? A skull? Trying to figure out the meaning of all this, he cast a confused look around the room. And, to his surprise, he noticed something he hadn't before. There, hidden behind a cushion of a particularly nasty pink colour, beside the crystal ball on a small, round table, sat...
A skull. The dirty yellow colour of greaseproof paper gave away its old age. Sirius Black smiled, then quickly grabbed the skull and tucked it beneath the invisibility cloak with him. He was quite certain that Peeves was looking for this relic tonight, and he would get it. For a price.
The boy started to turn back towards the trapdoor, then halted as he caught sight of something else on the small table. A large stack of familiar looking papers. He grinned. It seemed that the fates had presented him with yet another chance to play a prank tonight. And a satisfying one it would be, indeed!
But, for now, to the task at hand. Peeves was just floating into the room, still cackling loudly. Though his expression fell as he searched the room through again and again, obviously not finding what he was looking for. Swearing loudly, the Poltergeist floated towards the trapdoor again.
Just at that moment, Sirius addressed him, his voice lowered to a hoarse whisper.
"Peeves..."
Alarmed, the poltergeist turned around again, once sideways, then vertically, alarmed at not finding the person or ghost who had spoken his name.
Sirius meanwhile continued to play his part. "Peeves. I know what you seek. I can help you find it."
The boy heartily enjoyed his role, especially when Peeves, with a voice quite unlike his usual cheeky tone, asked "Who's here, now? Where are you? Have you got it?"
Sirius carefully balanced the skull on one hand, stretching it out of the cloak so that only the hand and the cranium could be seen. "It *is* this you are looking for, isn't it?"
Peeves, his ghostly eyes wide, tried to snatch the skull away, but Sirius pulled his hand back quickly, moving aside a meter or so silently.
"Give it me!" Peeves roared, his voice now quite alarmed.
"You can have it," Sirius answered levelly, still in the same low whisper. "But, Peeves, what are you willing to pay for it?"
"Anything! You can have anything! Just give it me!"
"Anything? Indeed, what high words! But are you willing to swear on your own grave, and on your skull here," he let the cranium blink through the cloak for a short moment, "that you will keep your promise?"
"Yes! I swear! Anything! Just give it me!" Peeves was, by now, quite apoplectic. That is, if ghosts were able to be apoplectic, which they probably weren't.
"Good. You know what it means if a ghost swears on his own grave and skull and breaks his word, don't you. Well, I'll not be asking much. Just..." Sirius flung the cloak aside swiftly, then continued with his normal voice, "your assistance in writing a song." He smiled, then a thought came to him. "Oh, and of course, your continued assistance if ever I should need it again. And no giving me away to the teachers."
Peeves looked at him, crestfallen. He was obviously quite unwilling to admit to himself that a sixteen-year old boy had got the better of him. But, as all ghosts, he was bound to his word, so he nodded numbly as Sirius placed the old cranium on the table before him.
"And, what kind of song would you be needing?"
Sirius thought that the poltergeist sounded quite humble for once, and grinned at this as he told Peeves what they had planned.
Shortly after that, Peeves left the room, swearing softly and cradling his skull close to himself.
Sirius finally dared to let out the laughter that had been bubbling up inside him for a while now as he flung the cloak around his body once more, then consulted the Marauder's Map. Nobody about, except for the rapidly moving spot of the poltergeist.
Now, to the other task. Skimming through the papers on the table, he soon found the two he was looking for. He paused undecidedly when he read the name "Remus Lupin" printed on one page in small, neat letters, but finally decided against reading or even tampering with it. Wouldn't be right, he thought. Though he did read the two others with glee.
And then, flicking his wand, he altered the words on the papers.
Nor did whatever it was disappear from the boy's mind during the next week. While at first he had been one of the people chuckling in class about the new divination project, even making fun of James' and Peter's anxiety, he was now himself quite anxious, especially after they had filled out their questionnaires for the Love Match charm two days ago. So anxious, in fact, that he'd almost forgotten about the newest prank the Marauders had planned.
Only when James nudged him during one particularly boring History of Magic lesson - Dwarven mining politics indeed! - and passed him a note did Sirius finally come back to the task at hand - or rather, at the current state, at mind.
They had agreed upon the different roles they would play in this particular mischief beforehand. Peter was to use his artistic talents in creating the actual object. James, ever the diplomat in their small band, was to recruit a fifth player in their midst, though the additional culprit would be quite unaware of the purpose of his task. Remus, the only one amongst them who had the actual serenity to stand a particular person without going totally bonkers about it was to drop hints to aforementioned person about a certain long-nosed member of the Slytherin house. And Sirius had what they all agreed on was the most difficult, if not the most trying task of all.
Or, in other words, recruit Peeves the Poltergeist to work on this prank alongside the Marauders. Without, it may well be mentioned, buggering up their plan beforehand by announcing it to the whole school and their father's dogs.
It was he himself who had thought up this particular ingenuity. And, quite fittingly, it had been the ludicrous words to "Potter the Pink" that had inspired his idea. After all, who better to come up with a devious - if not artistically valuable - song than the most devious songwriter of all Hogwart's in the past three hundred and fifty-two years?
So did it come to pass that on the evening of Saturday, February Fifth, one sixth year Gryffindor boy could be found not in his bed, or the common room, or even in the school's kitchen - though he had planned on a short raid once his task was completed - but creeping up a stairway in the east tower of the castle. Well, to be precise, 'to be found' was probably the wrong term. Sirius Black was, after all, a Marauder, and equipped only with the best accessories.
James' invisibility cloak loosely fitted around him, the hood pulled up as to make him completely invisible to any human onlooker, Sirius Black could only be spotted by the small, dimmed light of his wand and a corner of the Marauder's Map protruding from under the cloak.
Twice already he had, by pure chance and quick thinking, escaped the piercing stare of Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's evil cat. The boys had long found out that invisibility cloaks only worked on cats in the daylight, for some strange reason, and even then only in combination with a scent-blocking spell.
And still, no sight of Peeves, the damn bugger!
Of course, equipped with the Marauder's Map, it should have been easy to spot the darned berk. And indeed it was, but whenever Sirius had arrived at the room where Peeves had previously been the room was empty, and the small dot labelled 'Peeves' was in the next room, or the one below, or indeed the other end of the castle. Damn those stupid ghosts for being able to sift through walls!
Though Sirius had to wonder how the Poltergeist could evade him so swiftly. After all, invisibility cloaks may not work on cats at night, but they bloody well *do* work on ghosts. Either Peeves had spotted him by the light of his wand and had then decided to play a game of find and catch, or the blasted scoundrel was just off on his usual 'castle business'.
So far, Sirius had followed him to the Astronomy tower, the Slytherin dungeon, the upper left tower of the southern castle wing. And now, finally, the east wing. It seemed a perfectly erratic route. But there had to be some plan behind it, right? Unless Peeves was just enjoying one of his fits of altering random staircases, or replacing all the castle portraits whilst their inhabitants were off somewhere else as to annoy them, or...
But, of course! The teaching rooms!
Quickly, Sirius pulled out the map and connected all of Peeve's spots of interest with his finger. The Astronomy Tower's teaching room. The Slytherin Dungeon - Professor Battery's classroom. Professor Flitwick's... McGonagall's...
Smugly, he put away the map. Peeves was heading towards old Professor Atkinson's classroom, so much he knew. Time enough to go to one classroom Sirius was *sure* the Poltergeist hadn't been to yet.
A couple of minutes later, Sirius arrived at the staircase leading up to Madame Dubois' cosy little classroom. The faint scent of rose oil and incense was still in the air, not enough to be choking but still managing to make the small room seem stuffed. Pink and purple plush cushions were lying around everywhere, some on chairs, others stocked in a corner, yet others arranged to make a kind of divan on the floor. The windows were draped with heavy brocade curtains, which Sirius pulled back with some effort to let some air into the room.
He did not have to wait long for Peeves to approach the room, cackling and muttering to himself.
"He, he, he. Exorcise poor old Peeves from the castle! Don't think so, no sir. They think Peeves is stupid, they do, but not with me, they won't. Now, now, think, Peeves. Where could it be? They're too clever to hide it in the Defence Room, but not clever enough to outwit Peeves the Poltergeist." The ghoul chuckled to himself. "Where's this, now. La chamber de Mdm. Dubois. Dubois. Dubois, Dubois, 'ave you got that skull of moi?"
Sirius shook his head in confusion. The Defence Room? Exorcise? A skull? Trying to figure out the meaning of all this, he cast a confused look around the room. And, to his surprise, he noticed something he hadn't before. There, hidden behind a cushion of a particularly nasty pink colour, beside the crystal ball on a small, round table, sat...
A skull. The dirty yellow colour of greaseproof paper gave away its old age. Sirius Black smiled, then quickly grabbed the skull and tucked it beneath the invisibility cloak with him. He was quite certain that Peeves was looking for this relic tonight, and he would get it. For a price.
The boy started to turn back towards the trapdoor, then halted as he caught sight of something else on the small table. A large stack of familiar looking papers. He grinned. It seemed that the fates had presented him with yet another chance to play a prank tonight. And a satisfying one it would be, indeed!
But, for now, to the task at hand. Peeves was just floating into the room, still cackling loudly. Though his expression fell as he searched the room through again and again, obviously not finding what he was looking for. Swearing loudly, the Poltergeist floated towards the trapdoor again.
Just at that moment, Sirius addressed him, his voice lowered to a hoarse whisper.
"Peeves..."
Alarmed, the poltergeist turned around again, once sideways, then vertically, alarmed at not finding the person or ghost who had spoken his name.
Sirius meanwhile continued to play his part. "Peeves. I know what you seek. I can help you find it."
The boy heartily enjoyed his role, especially when Peeves, with a voice quite unlike his usual cheeky tone, asked "Who's here, now? Where are you? Have you got it?"
Sirius carefully balanced the skull on one hand, stretching it out of the cloak so that only the hand and the cranium could be seen. "It *is* this you are looking for, isn't it?"
Peeves, his ghostly eyes wide, tried to snatch the skull away, but Sirius pulled his hand back quickly, moving aside a meter or so silently.
"Give it me!" Peeves roared, his voice now quite alarmed.
"You can have it," Sirius answered levelly, still in the same low whisper. "But, Peeves, what are you willing to pay for it?"
"Anything! You can have anything! Just give it me!"
"Anything? Indeed, what high words! But are you willing to swear on your own grave, and on your skull here," he let the cranium blink through the cloak for a short moment, "that you will keep your promise?"
"Yes! I swear! Anything! Just give it me!" Peeves was, by now, quite apoplectic. That is, if ghosts were able to be apoplectic, which they probably weren't.
"Good. You know what it means if a ghost swears on his own grave and skull and breaks his word, don't you. Well, I'll not be asking much. Just..." Sirius flung the cloak aside swiftly, then continued with his normal voice, "your assistance in writing a song." He smiled, then a thought came to him. "Oh, and of course, your continued assistance if ever I should need it again. And no giving me away to the teachers."
Peeves looked at him, crestfallen. He was obviously quite unwilling to admit to himself that a sixteen-year old boy had got the better of him. But, as all ghosts, he was bound to his word, so he nodded numbly as Sirius placed the old cranium on the table before him.
"And, what kind of song would you be needing?"
Sirius thought that the poltergeist sounded quite humble for once, and grinned at this as he told Peeves what they had planned.
Shortly after that, Peeves left the room, swearing softly and cradling his skull close to himself.
Sirius finally dared to let out the laughter that had been bubbling up inside him for a while now as he flung the cloak around his body once more, then consulted the Marauder's Map. Nobody about, except for the rapidly moving spot of the poltergeist.
Now, to the other task. Skimming through the papers on the table, he soon found the two he was looking for. He paused undecidedly when he read the name "Remus Lupin" printed on one page in small, neat letters, but finally decided against reading or even tampering with it. Wouldn't be right, he thought. Though he did read the two others with glee.
And then, flicking his wand, he altered the words on the papers.