Ickle Firsties
Chapter Six – The Marauders
"This is boring," complained Sirius, leaning back on his chair and propping his feet up on the table, making sure that the annoying librarian, Madam Pince, was nowhere to be seen. She had convicted him of this particular crime twice already.
James yawned and chimed in with, "I agree. It's pointless." Peter Pettigrew eagerly nodded his agreement, and Remus Lupin caught James's yawn. They were all that was left of the Gryffindor first year boys now. The instant Dumbledore had owled Mrs. Gudgeon about Davy's injury, he had been removed from Hogwarts. As they tend to do, a rumour had sprung up about the cause of his departure, and, as a result of this, James and Sirius seemed to have been given the title of school pranksters.
Following their pact truthfully, James and Sirius had been inviting Remus to hang around with them. The boy seemed rather bewildered by their actions, but at the same time appeared glad to have a friend. The downside of this was that that annoying kid, Peter Pettigrew, seemed to have idolized Sirius and James and followed them around everywhere. James and Sirius had a feeling that he was beginning to worship Remus as well.
"There's got to be something in here somewhere," Peter said. Maybe if I find it, James and Sirius and Remus will think I'm smart!
"There's not," James spoke up. "We must've looked through every book in this whole library, and not a sing-"
"Well," Remus interjected, speaking slowly and choosing his words carefully. "Not- not every book in the library…."
Sirius stared at him in mock surprise. "No! It can't be! Remus is suggesting doing something against the rules!"
"Well, should we?" asked James, rolling his eyes at Sirius, who was now pretending to have convulsions. "I mean, if it's the only way we're going to find out about Carrion the Corny…"
"Binns wouldn't've assigned us something that hard to find, though. We must've overlooked it," Peter thought out loud.
Sirius stopped having a fit and exchanged a glance with James, and James passed it on to Remus. The three of them locked eyes and James said, "I have an idea."
Peter felt a little hurt. Just when he was against doing something, they decided to do it! It was as though they thought he was some kind of dork or something.
***
Madam Pince picked up her wand, her cloak, and her large ring of keys. She walked up and down the aisles of her haven as was her custom, checking for any lingering students. Contrary to popular belief, she was not secretly a vampiress who lived in the library. She went back to her office to sleep every Tuesday night at eleven, and came back on Wednesday mornings.
She took one last glance around the library, and walked out of it, her cloak swooshing in the gentle magical breeze that swept through the building at night.
***
"Is she gone?" Remus asked tentatively.
"I think so," hissed James quietly. He slid the invisibility cloak off the four of them and stood up, stretching.
"So, Restricted Section's… that way?" asked Sirius, pointing.
Remus held up his wand and pointed it at a large floating sign. "What does that say, Sirius?"
"Ress- rest- restroom?"
"Restricted Section," Remus corrected him.
"Really? Because it still looks like restr-"
"Just come on!" James said, pulling him forward.
They reached the Restricted Section. It was a large block of shelves set away from the other sections, with, of course, that distinctive sign hovering above it. However, the four of them could sense a magical barrier- several of them, actually- blocking their path. This was something James had never experienced before, and it scared him a little bit. In his mind's eye, he could see many criss-crossing gold bars shimmering just in front of him, but he was sure that they weren't truly visible. Magical vision, a voice in his head automatically told him.
Peter's small, watery eyes (AN: Is he related to Vernon or something?) darted around nervously. "Maybe we should just leave," he began, but Sirius cut him off.
"No way," he said. "We went to all this trouble to stay, and we're not going anywhere. Besides, we can't get out of the library. The Alohomora charm only works from the outside." Seeing the look on Peter's face that very clearly said, you belong in a mental institute, the lot of you, Sirius grinned and continued, "I don't believe I've ever worked this hard on homework before."
Remus suddenly snapped his fingers. "I know what to do!" he exclaimed. "I saw it on the telly once-" Seeing his friends' blank looks, he said, "What? My mum's a Muggle! It's a kind of box that plays pictures. Anyway, this Muggle robber had to get by something kind of like this, except the- what were they called?- lasers were red. They just stepped over and around them and didn't get zapped. I figure we're small enough to do something similar."
Sirius nodded, and James said, "Okay, that's the best plan we've got, so, I'm in."
"Me too!" Peter chirped.
"Shh!"
Remus, upon the insisting of the others, went first. He carefully maneuvered around the first three golden bars and ducked under a fourth. "Come on!" he mouthed to James, who had volunteered to go next. James gingerly avoided the first few bars, and Sirius came forward. When he had reached the fourth bar, he looked back at Peter. He was chubby, and had already proved to be clumsy.
"Er," said Remus, seeing the internal struggle that Sirius was going through. "Peter, why don't you stay there, and, er, keep watch?"
"Yes," agreed Sirius, relieved. "Yes, we need someone to warn us if anyone's coming. If you see someone, yell 'piggy's purple lasagna', and run for your life."
"Piggy's purple lasagna?" asked James. "What…?"
"Don't ask," muttered Sirius.
"Okay, then," said Remus, as he stepped across the very last bar. "Hey, look- Odd People from History: Magical and Magicked, maybe it's in there…" he lifted the heavy book off the shelf, turned to the index, and sat down as Sirius and James joined him.
"Right, who're we looking for, again?" yawned James. "Calliope the Cremated?"
"Carrion," Sirius corrected him, also suppressing a yawn. "Carrion the Corny."
"Here we go," announced Remus. "Carrion the Corny, page 567…." He flipped to the page and began to read aloud, "Carrion the Corny was a goblin living circa 1203 to 1365. His name comes from the record-setting 829 corns on his right foot, all curiously shaped like…."
James and Sirius weren't listening. They were looking at what was on the left side of the page. "I just don't get you two," Remus said sarcastically. "How can anyone possibly find whatever's on that page more interesting than a goblin with 829 corns on his foot?" They didn't answer, so he leaned over to see what was more interesting than a corny goblin.
The Marauders: Messengers to Trouble-Makers
Mark Acoplyne, Harry N. Hopkins, David Gargen, and Carlton Thomas were among the most fabled troublemakers of the early 17th Century. They supposedly provided special maps to students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and later at the Ministry of Magic. Of the seven secret passages at Hogwarts and twelve at the Ministry, five are rumoured to have been created by this motley crew.
"Cool," Sirius breathed. "That's awesome! I wonder what kind of maps they made…." He trailed off, a dreamy look on his face.
"You know," James remarked thoughtfully, "they're not a far cry from us. We could be- I don't know, a sort of Marauder revival crew or something. I mean, we're certainly troublemaker enough."
"That would be entertaining," Remus thought aloud. "We could leave a legacy for future generations of mischief-makers."
Sirius adopted a very formal accent. "Henceforth, we shall be known solely as the Marauders," he said, as Peter looked on, awe-struck.
"Can I be in it, too?" He asked. "Please?"
Sirius, Remus, and James exchanged glances. Remus, who felt sorry for him, said, "Well, there were four of them, so yeah, you can be in it."
Sirius continued, "We are a secret organization whose one purpose is to make life more enjoyable for the students at this humble establishment. We shall leave clues behind that only the cleverest of students can find, so that future generations will be able to get the most out of their educational experience." Peter rose to his feet and clapped. Sirius took a bow, and his head grazed one of the bars.
A sapphire bar of light rose perpendicular to the one that had been disturbed and began to twirl. It twirled so fast that all four of the boys had to look away, lest they threw up. Thinner sapphire beams of light spiraled out from the first in all directions until the entire Restricted Section was shrouded in a bluish mist. Then a shrill noise erupted from the centre of this confusion and rang throughout the whole library.
"Run for it!" yelled Sirius. "It doesn't matter if you break any more barriers now- Pringle's gonna catch us!"
The rest of the newly dubbed Marauders obeyed. Unfortunately, the caretaker, Apollyon Pringle, was too fast for them. Being the gifted Seer that he was, he ran after the quartet.
And that was how James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter got their first detentions as Marauders.
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AN: Yay! I updated quicker!! Lol.... thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter- Sarah, Kady Rilla Wholi, Arazal, and Anne-Evans89. Anyway, I think you all know what to do….
--Juli