Disclaimer: You know the deal. I'm not J.K. Rowling, nor do I have her talent (damn). Don't sue.
Chapter Six: Of Halloween
All Hallows Eve dawned crisp and clear, a beautiful day. But no one was out on the grounds to enjoy it.
"Blast this stupid Potions homework!" cried Sirius, banging his fist on the table. "It's a holiday, but God forbid that we should have a break from work. God forbid that we should have fun! God forbid that-"
"We should have peace and quiet for a while!" interjected Lily, exasperated. "If you had just done your homework on time in the first place, then Professor Centia wouldn't have given you extra homework. And if you had done that extra homework on time he wouldn't have given you more extra homework. And if you had turned that extra homework in on time, you wouldn't have gotten detention, so you could have done this homework on time. So shut up." Sirius glared at her.
"The girl has a point, Sirius old pal. Shut it so that others may enjoy the holiday." Lily smiled appreciatively at Remus. Ever since their Transfiguration project together, they had become very good friends. Sirius glowered.
"FINE! I can tell when I'm not wanted! I can tell that no one wants me here! I'll just be leaving then!" He left the Common Room to tumultuous cheers from the other Gryffindors, happy that Sirius was leaving so they could have some quiet. Sirius poked his head back around the corner.
"And you don't have to sound so gosh-darned happy about it!" Everyone laughed as Sirius stormed off, and then resumed their conversations. Suddenly Carolina burst into the room, tripped over a chair, and fell on top of the table where Remus was trying to teach Lily the finer points of wizard's chess.
"That's our Carolina. Always graceful as a pixie." Lily said, sarcastically, as she hauled her best friend to her feet.
"More like 'as graceful as a hippopotamus in ballet slippers'" laughed James, while helping Remus set the table back up. Lily grimaced. Although the duo had been partners in crime, and they were polite to each other in public situations, Lily had never forgiven him for dying Taryn's hair. Also, it seemed as though his teasing, while apparently innocent, was meant to be just a barbed as it sounded. If Carolina heard any insult, she ignored it.
"Yes, that about sums up my gracefulness," she said, nursing a scraped elbow and examining a new bruise.
"Why were you running in here anyways?" inquired Remus.
"Oh, yes, that. Look at this!" she whispered, trying not to draw any more attention to herself. Carolina whipped a copy of the Daily Prophet out of her pocket and began to read.
"Wizards all over England, who have been hearing rumors of a rising Dark wizard, have just had their worst fears confirmed by the Minister of Magic himself. In a recent press conference he released the news that a terribly powerful wizard is gaining power and allies. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or Voldemort, has created a panic of the likes that has not been seen since Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, defeated the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1948. (A/N sorry if I got the spelling or the date wrong, I don't know them and I can't find the book)
Voldemort and his followers, called Death Eaters, are rampaging across the country on mad killing sprees. There seems to be no pattern, but the main targets of his murders so far (Twenty-nine muggles and thirteen wizards to date) have been random muggles and aurors. He leaves a grotesque symbol above all the houses which he has attacked, a glowing skull with a snake protruding from its mouth, which people are calling the Dark Mark. The ministry and those of us working here at the Daily Prophet would like to extend our heartfelt apologies to those who have lost someone in these attacks." When Carolina stopped speaking, no one moved. The article had attracted more listeners than just Remus, Lily, and James. Several third and fourth years were listening, and two prefects were paying rapt attention. Lily sat down heavily in a chair, Remus turned the color of week old milk, and one fifth year girl fainted.
"Remain calm," said the Prefect that had taken the points from Carolina and Lily on their first day. "I'm sure there is nothing to be worried about." When she saw that her words did absolutely nothing to cheer anyone up, she sighed. "C'mon you lot. It'll be fine. It's time for dinner anyways, so let's go. Halloween Feast tonight! That'll cheer you up!"
Everyone got up and followed her out of the room except Remus. When James noticed that he wasn't coming, he went back.
"No, go on," said Remus. "I have to go home tonight. Me mum's sick. I have to visit her again, so I'm leaving now. Remember when I had to go last month?" James nodded and went to the feast.
"I wonder what Remus's mother is sick with. D'you think it serious?" he asked Sirius as dinner when he explained why their pal wasn't there.
"It must be or he would go to visit her this often, would he? I mean once a month. That must be pretty serious." Interjected Carolina as she and Lily slid into the seats across from the boys. "And Sirius," she said, without looking up, "if you say one thing about how you're Sirius, I will not stop at killing you. Is that understood?" Sirius nodded fervently. "Good boy!" Carolina said and patted his head.
"I'm not a dog!" he protested..
"Yes you are!" cried Lily. He looked at her inquisitively. "Sirius, you are a dog." When she saw that he still didn't understand, she sighed. "Sirius. Is. The. Name. Of. The. Dog. Star." Lily said very slowly. "Therefore, you are a dog."
Sirius growled and bit a huge hunk off of his leg of turkey. "I don't care what you say. I'm notta dog!" he said, spraying Peter with food. "Oops, sary Pata!" He apologized, getting turkey bits all over James. James looked at Peter, who nodded. They simultaneously picked up globs of mashed potatoes and flung them at Sirius. Sirius screamed in anguish as James's mashed potatoes got into his eyes, and Peter's landed on his shirt.
"You guys are dead!" he shrieked grabbing two handfuls of pumpkin pie and lobbing them at where he thought Peter and James were. In actuality, he hit Carolina and a Ravenclaw at the next table. Carolina dumped her goblet of pumpkin juice on Sirius's head while plucking the pumpkin stuffing out of her hair, and the Ravenclaw screamed and started throwing food everywhere. Chaos reigned supreme for ten minutes until Professor McGonagall exploded three orange firecrackers off the end of her wand and Professor Flitwick cast a giant Freezing Charm over every student in the hall.
Professor Dumbledore stood up. "May I please speak to Misters Black, Potter, and Pettigrew in my office? Immediately, if you don't mind. And Miss Evans and Miss Richardson are invited to join our little party." He swept out of the hall with Professor McGonagall in his wake. The five busted ones groaned and left the hall to cheers and catcalls. They spent the long walk following the Headmaster to his office trying to clean themselves off. They failed miserably. When they reached the giant spiraling staircase behind the gargoyle (Fizzing Whizbies!), they all still had food spattered down their fronts, and Peter had a carrot stuck in her ear! When they entered the office, the guilty party stood on the side nearest the door, while Dumbledore sat at his desk, with Professor McGonagall pacing behind him.
"What exactly possessed you to do such a thing?" McGonagall began. Dumbledore held up his hand.
"I can handle this from here, Minerva," he said quietly, never taking his eyes off the first years. Professor McGonagall nodded and left. "So, I see that your ability to cause trouble has not depleted since your little extravaganza at the beginning of the year," he said. Only Peter's mouth remained closed, as he had not been involved in that particular prank. Dumbledore smiled. "Yes, I knew that it was you. I just did not see fit to punish you at the time, as you clearly had other things on your mind, or you would have tried to hide the telltale smiles on your face. Now this, on the other hand, was going a little far. Though I myself enjoy a food fight as well as the next hapless person, the majority of our faculty sees them as a disregard for rules and respect, so I must punish you as I see fit. You will all spend the remainder of the night cleaning the Great Hall without magic. Then, tomorrow evening, Mister Black, Mister Pettigrew, and Miss Richardson will be polishing trophies in the Trophy Room, while Mister Potter and Miss Evans will be scrubbing the Quidditch Stadium stands, as we have a match on Saturday. Understood?" They all nodded and headed back to the Great Hall.
"Damn!" James whispered to Sirius. "Tomorrow's going to be no fun at all! First of all I'm going to freeze my arse off while trying to clean the stands, and second of all, I'm with Evans!" Sirius grinned evilly.
"She's not that bad. Just bundle up and you'll be fine…" he stopped at the sight of the Great Hall.
"OH SHIT!" They all chorused. Food was stuck to the ceiling, the walls, and all over the table. Sitting on the floor at their feet were five buckets filled with warm, soapy water, five scrub brushes, and five pairs of big, yellow, rubber gloves. Everyone groaned and pulled on the gloves, picked up the buckets, and got to work. Everything went well until Lily tried to pull a candied apple off the Hufflepuff table. She put all of her weight against it, and when it came loose, she flew backwards, and crashed into poor Peter and her bucket of water. They were bruised and soaked thoroughly, though everyone else got a laugh out of it. Another problem arose when a great blob of chocolate pudding fell off the ceiling and onto Sirius's head. He wouldn't believe that no one had thrown it at him, until another blob of pudding fell on James. This brought up yet another problem.
"How the hell are we supposed to get food off of the ceiling?" wondered Carolina. They resolved that particular issue by standing on chairs that they had put on tables and then throwing the water at the stains, until they had gotten every spot they could see off. They then stood back and admired their work.
"Not bad, not bad," panted James. He glanced at his watch. "And it only took us three hours!"
"What do you say we leave some creamed corn on Dumbledore's chair?" conspired Peter.
"Nah, he's the Headmaster. How about on Centia's chair? Serves him right for giving me all that extra homework," suggested Sirius. They all nodded, and Sirius scooped up one of the remaining pools of mush and carefully situated it on his least favourite professor's chair. They then walked back up to the House, gasping for breath.
"Boy are we going to feel sore tomorrow," wheezed Carolina as she flopped into bed. "Too bad Remus missed it. The food fight was loads of fun. Can't wait till tomorrow, though. Polishing stupid trophies. Joy." The girls smiled and fell into a deep sleep.
(A/N) Yes, I know that was weird, I just felt like it. The story was moving really slowly, so I just sped it along a bit. Now, review section! Reviews, Reviews, Reviews! Musicizdbest- Yes I LUV pulling pranks. I make enemies easily. Please give me ideas, my muse has completely deserted me. :^)~ don'tyouwannaknow- I know who you are, so piss off. I know you were pissed off at me when you wrote that, and as soon as I can figure out how, I am going to delete it. BACK OFF, BARBIE! Lynn- Excellent writer? *gasps and goes into shock* THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My editors think that I am uploading to quickly, and I think that they are full of it. Do y'all think that I should slow down?
KEEP READING AND KEEP REVIEWING!!!! Reviews make me happy. Being happy makes me want to write. Writing makes me upload. Uploading lets y'all read my story. Reading makes y'all review, and REVIEWS MAKE ME HAPPY. I'm sensing a pattern here…
