Chapter Twenty-Two: Chasing a Monster
The rest of the day seemed quite long to the Gryffindor students, whose stomachs were growling like a Gryffindor lion. Lunch had been better than breakfast, but not until dinner did they eat a normal meal. Because they were so excited to eat, they didn't notice Hagrid covered in bandages talking quietly to Dumbledore. Once they had taken the edge off of their hunger, their attention turned to the quiet, but apparently serious conversation that was happening between the groundskeeper and the headmaster. Suddenly, Dumbledore leapt from his chair and followed Hagrid quickly out of the hall.
"Wonder what that's all about," Sirius said through a mouthful of turkey.
Remus shrugged, lost in thought.
"Looks serious," Peter remarked, looking a bit worried himself.
After finishing dinner, the Marauders decided to take a walk around the grounds. They thought that was the best way to find Hagrid and get him to tell them what was going on, since they were pretty sure he and Dumbledore had gone outside. They walked past Hagrid's hut first, but it looked deserted. They wandered around past the lake and the Whomping Willow and still found no sign of Hagrid or the headmaster.
Just as they were about to give up and head back into the school, they heard Hagrid's large footsteps approaching. He appeared to be searching for something, but it took him several seconds to notice the boys standing there.
"Oh," he said, trying to hide his surprise and act casual. "What're you boys doin' out here?"
"Trying to figure out what you're looking for," James quickly spoke.
"Lookin' for Mar-" Hagrid suddenly stopped and glared at James. "I'm not supposed to talk about it. You tricked me into it! I have to go; it's important. You five get back to the castle. Now!" Hagrid's voice boomed with the last word and the boys did not question whether they should obey or not.
Once they were safely inside the school, Austin said, "What do you think he was looking for? It almost sounded like Marauders to me."
James looked confused for a moment. "But we didn't do anything today. And Dumbledore knows who we are, they wouldn't be looking outside."
"Martin!" Sirius exclaimed. This outburst was met with questioning faces. Only Austin looked at all enlightened.
"Oh yeah," he said slowly. "Martin, Hagrid's hairy MacBoon." He looked around, obviously worried. "He was pretty big when I had detention with Hagrid. He's probably a foot or two tall by now."
Peter looked absolutely terrified. "Are you saying that thing is two feet tall, likes to eat people and is on the loose?"
"That'd be my guess," James answered.
"Poor Hagrid." Remus spoke for the first time.
"Poor Hagrid?" Peter exclaimed. "He raised the thing, knowing it was a monster, then let it escape!"
Remus nodded. "I know that, but he might lose his job over this and no one else will ever hire a half trained wizard. They'll find Martin soon, I'm sure."
No one else looked as sure as Remus, but James nodded in agreement. "I'm sure Dumbledore knows how to handle this sort of thing."
Then a piercing scream and the sound of students running interrupted their private conversation.
Remus and James looked at each other wide-eyed. Then, they all started running towards the noises. Soon they encountered a stampede of students running in the opposite direction. Remus fought the current of students rushing down the halls. If Martin was really running loose in the school, he knew he had to do something to help. At that point, it didn't matter to him if James and the others were following, but he could hear them clamoring through the crowd behind him. If he had had time to think, that would have made him feel braver, but the only thing he knew was that he had to get to Martin before Martin got anyone else.
The crowd began thinning out as Remus raced past some classrooms. Finally, he came upon a classroom door that had a chair shoved against it to keep it closed. Violent noises issued from behind the door as it shook, threatening to break open. Remus stopped and stood in front of the door. His mind was racing, trying to think of the right spell. In a moment, he had decided on one that would strengthen the door, to give Dumbledore and Hagrid a chance to take control of the situation.
"Fortify barricadium!" he yelled as his friends caught up with him. Immediately, the door stopped shaking, and looked much tougher than it had before.
"Great idea," James told Remus, impressed.
Remus nodded his thanks and said, "I hope that will last until Hagrid and Dumbledore can get here."
Nodding, Sirius added, "If not, I'm sure the five of us can handle Martin." James, Austin and Peter (although looking a bit sick) all nodded in agreement.
James spoke up. "One of us should probably go look for Hagrid, to make sure he gets here quickly."
"I'll go," Peter volunteered.
Remus nodded and Peter took off.
Eight eyes watched the door nervously, waiting for the sounds of six feet to echo through the halls. Just as the door started to shake again, the floor started to shake as well, signaling Hagrid's arrival. A moment later, the large groundskeeper, the headmaster and a very out of breath Peter joined Remus, James, Sirius and Austin.
"Martin!" Hagrid cried, rushing to the door.
"Hagrid," Dumbledore's voice warned, "Obviously Martin is quite distressed and ready to attack and you have nothing with which to defend yourself. Let me go in first."
Hagrid backed away slowly, wringing his hands and imploring, "Don't hurt him, he's just a baby."
James and Sirius looked at Hagrid as if to say "You've got to be joking," but Hagrid looked genuinely worried and the boys held their tongues. Dumbledore paid no attention to Hagrid's comments and proceeded to open the door with great caution, wand out and ready.
"Stupefy!" he yelled as he pointed his wand into the room. There was a thud as something heavy hit the floor and the headmaster opened the door all of the way. Martin, now quite big, was lying on the floor, knocked out. Hagrid rushed to him.
"Martin, I'm sorry," he moaned. "Are you ok?"
Dumbledore took Hagrid's arm and gently led him aside. After a few minutes of quiet conversation, Hagrid nodded sadly and said, "I'll go get a crate, Professor."
After Hagrid had left, Remus asked, "Is Hagrid going to be in trouble, Professor?"
Looking thoughtful, Dumbledore replied, "I will do my best to make sure he keeps his job, but with his history, I'm not sure how successful I will be."
"What history?" Peter asked.
"That is only for Hagrid to reveal, if he wishes to," the headmaster answered.
"What's going to happen to Martin?" Austin asked, having bonded with the monster a bit.
"I am writing to a friend who lives near the Isle of Drear to ask if he will drop Martin off there. We will keep him in a crate in my office until we hear from him."
The Marauders watched sadly as a crestfallen Hagrid returned with a large crate and put the still form of his pet into it. He nailed the lid on and Dumbledore said, "Hagrid, I can take it from here. Please return to your hut, and take tomorrow off. I will visit you tomorrow, and if I so much as smell a hint of alcohol in your hut then, I will cease to assist you in maintaining your job here. Am I understood?"
Hagrid, hanging his head, replied, "Yes, Professor, I understand." Then he turned slowly and left.
Dumbledore then turned to the boys and said, "You may go and tell the students that the situation has been taken care of and that it is safe to return. Inform them that their prefects will tell them all about it tomorrow morning, but don't answer any of their questions now."
"Yes, sir," James said, and they all turned and walked down the hall to find where their fellow students had congregated.
They found the terrified masses in the Great Hall. The prefects vainly attempted to calm them down, but since they had no facts (and some were just as terrified) they weren't very effective. Remus went over to Meg Weasley, who looked like one of the calmest of the prefects and delivered Dumbledore's message. She looked relieved and pointed her wand at her throat and said, "Sonorus!"
"Attention," she said, but in an amplified voice that immediately quieted the immense room. "I have been informed that the situation is over and it is safe to return to your common rooms. The headmaster will talk with the prefects tonight, and they will answer any students' questions tomorrow morning. Prefects, please lead your students back to their towers."
Then Meg pointed the wand at her throat and mumbled something else. Her voice returned to normal and she called for the Gryffindors to gather around her and she led them back to the tower.
The next day, the boys caught Lily up on what had happened, filling in all of the details that the prefects had left out (mostly that Martin was a pet, and not a wild animal that wandered in). She, of course, felt just as bad for Hagrid as the rest of them, and suggested using their free hour to visit Hagrid. The Marauders readily agreed, but on their way out, they met Dumbledore coming in. He guessed what they were up to and told them not to disturb Hagrid. But he seemed pretty cheerful, so Remus figured that Hagrid hadn't drunk himself into a stupor.
A few days later, Lily reported that she had seen Dumbledore sending off a crate with a witch on a broomstick, so they knew that Martin was safely away. Then they went to see Hagrid, who seemed to be recovering, although he kept repeating what a great man Dumbledore was, so he wasn't very interesting to talk to. Somehow the headmaster had managed to keep Hagrid his job, but with stern warnings not to try raising wild creatures in his hut without permission.
It wasn't long before the excitement over the quintaped died down and the Marauders were itching to play another prank. James and Sirius spent quite a bit of time with their heads together, trying to come up with something good. Finally, they had a brainstorm. Sirius had read about a spell that acted like super glue, holding any object to any surface. So they planned to perform the spell on all of the teacher's desks on the same day.
"But how will we get them all out of their classrooms?" Remus asked the masterminds, as they sat in their dorm room before bed.
"You know how McGonagall is almost late every Wednesday for our first lesson?" James slyly replied.
Remus, Austin and Peter nodded, waiting anxiously to hear where this was leading.
"It's because all of the teachers are at a staff meeting between breakfast and lessons. So if we did the spell in the very early morning, they wouldn't realize what had happened until lessons had started."
As James finished, huge smiles began spreading across the others' faces. "Wicked," Remus added, appreciatively.
"We figured three of us could take the job of performing the spell and the other two could make sure the staff meeting didn't let out early," Sirius continued. "Does that sound good?"
Again, Peter, Austin and Remus nodded.
"Can I help with the spell?" Peter spoke up suddenly.
James looked a bit concerned. "Well, Peter, it's not that you couldn't do it, we just thought it would be more believable if you were one of the people who went to the staff meeting. You could be asking for help in Potions or something. We were going to send you and Remus, if that's ok with both of you."
Remus nodded, knowing that he could play this part and he would get in on the action later. Peter hesitated, then also nodded, showing great enthusiasm. "That makes perfect sense," he said, smiling.
"Great!" James looked relieved. "Should we put this plan into action this Wednesday, then?"
"That's the day after tomorrow," Remus thought aloud. "Will that give you three time to learn the spell?"
"Sure," Sirius stated. "It seems pretty simple."
"Alright then, Wednesday it is."
They all put a hand into the center of their circle and said, "Marauders forever," as they threw their hands in the air.
The rest of the day seemed quite long to the Gryffindor students, whose stomachs were growling like a Gryffindor lion. Lunch had been better than breakfast, but not until dinner did they eat a normal meal. Because they were so excited to eat, they didn't notice Hagrid covered in bandages talking quietly to Dumbledore. Once they had taken the edge off of their hunger, their attention turned to the quiet, but apparently serious conversation that was happening between the groundskeeper and the headmaster. Suddenly, Dumbledore leapt from his chair and followed Hagrid quickly out of the hall.
"Wonder what that's all about," Sirius said through a mouthful of turkey.
Remus shrugged, lost in thought.
"Looks serious," Peter remarked, looking a bit worried himself.
After finishing dinner, the Marauders decided to take a walk around the grounds. They thought that was the best way to find Hagrid and get him to tell them what was going on, since they were pretty sure he and Dumbledore had gone outside. They walked past Hagrid's hut first, but it looked deserted. They wandered around past the lake and the Whomping Willow and still found no sign of Hagrid or the headmaster.
Just as they were about to give up and head back into the school, they heard Hagrid's large footsteps approaching. He appeared to be searching for something, but it took him several seconds to notice the boys standing there.
"Oh," he said, trying to hide his surprise and act casual. "What're you boys doin' out here?"
"Trying to figure out what you're looking for," James quickly spoke.
"Lookin' for Mar-" Hagrid suddenly stopped and glared at James. "I'm not supposed to talk about it. You tricked me into it! I have to go; it's important. You five get back to the castle. Now!" Hagrid's voice boomed with the last word and the boys did not question whether they should obey or not.
Once they were safely inside the school, Austin said, "What do you think he was looking for? It almost sounded like Marauders to me."
James looked confused for a moment. "But we didn't do anything today. And Dumbledore knows who we are, they wouldn't be looking outside."
"Martin!" Sirius exclaimed. This outburst was met with questioning faces. Only Austin looked at all enlightened.
"Oh yeah," he said slowly. "Martin, Hagrid's hairy MacBoon." He looked around, obviously worried. "He was pretty big when I had detention with Hagrid. He's probably a foot or two tall by now."
Peter looked absolutely terrified. "Are you saying that thing is two feet tall, likes to eat people and is on the loose?"
"That'd be my guess," James answered.
"Poor Hagrid." Remus spoke for the first time.
"Poor Hagrid?" Peter exclaimed. "He raised the thing, knowing it was a monster, then let it escape!"
Remus nodded. "I know that, but he might lose his job over this and no one else will ever hire a half trained wizard. They'll find Martin soon, I'm sure."
No one else looked as sure as Remus, but James nodded in agreement. "I'm sure Dumbledore knows how to handle this sort of thing."
Then a piercing scream and the sound of students running interrupted their private conversation.
Remus and James looked at each other wide-eyed. Then, they all started running towards the noises. Soon they encountered a stampede of students running in the opposite direction. Remus fought the current of students rushing down the halls. If Martin was really running loose in the school, he knew he had to do something to help. At that point, it didn't matter to him if James and the others were following, but he could hear them clamoring through the crowd behind him. If he had had time to think, that would have made him feel braver, but the only thing he knew was that he had to get to Martin before Martin got anyone else.
The crowd began thinning out as Remus raced past some classrooms. Finally, he came upon a classroom door that had a chair shoved against it to keep it closed. Violent noises issued from behind the door as it shook, threatening to break open. Remus stopped and stood in front of the door. His mind was racing, trying to think of the right spell. In a moment, he had decided on one that would strengthen the door, to give Dumbledore and Hagrid a chance to take control of the situation.
"Fortify barricadium!" he yelled as his friends caught up with him. Immediately, the door stopped shaking, and looked much tougher than it had before.
"Great idea," James told Remus, impressed.
Remus nodded his thanks and said, "I hope that will last until Hagrid and Dumbledore can get here."
Nodding, Sirius added, "If not, I'm sure the five of us can handle Martin." James, Austin and Peter (although looking a bit sick) all nodded in agreement.
James spoke up. "One of us should probably go look for Hagrid, to make sure he gets here quickly."
"I'll go," Peter volunteered.
Remus nodded and Peter took off.
Eight eyes watched the door nervously, waiting for the sounds of six feet to echo through the halls. Just as the door started to shake again, the floor started to shake as well, signaling Hagrid's arrival. A moment later, the large groundskeeper, the headmaster and a very out of breath Peter joined Remus, James, Sirius and Austin.
"Martin!" Hagrid cried, rushing to the door.
"Hagrid," Dumbledore's voice warned, "Obviously Martin is quite distressed and ready to attack and you have nothing with which to defend yourself. Let me go in first."
Hagrid backed away slowly, wringing his hands and imploring, "Don't hurt him, he's just a baby."
James and Sirius looked at Hagrid as if to say "You've got to be joking," but Hagrid looked genuinely worried and the boys held their tongues. Dumbledore paid no attention to Hagrid's comments and proceeded to open the door with great caution, wand out and ready.
"Stupefy!" he yelled as he pointed his wand into the room. There was a thud as something heavy hit the floor and the headmaster opened the door all of the way. Martin, now quite big, was lying on the floor, knocked out. Hagrid rushed to him.
"Martin, I'm sorry," he moaned. "Are you ok?"
Dumbledore took Hagrid's arm and gently led him aside. After a few minutes of quiet conversation, Hagrid nodded sadly and said, "I'll go get a crate, Professor."
After Hagrid had left, Remus asked, "Is Hagrid going to be in trouble, Professor?"
Looking thoughtful, Dumbledore replied, "I will do my best to make sure he keeps his job, but with his history, I'm not sure how successful I will be."
"What history?" Peter asked.
"That is only for Hagrid to reveal, if he wishes to," the headmaster answered.
"What's going to happen to Martin?" Austin asked, having bonded with the monster a bit.
"I am writing to a friend who lives near the Isle of Drear to ask if he will drop Martin off there. We will keep him in a crate in my office until we hear from him."
The Marauders watched sadly as a crestfallen Hagrid returned with a large crate and put the still form of his pet into it. He nailed the lid on and Dumbledore said, "Hagrid, I can take it from here. Please return to your hut, and take tomorrow off. I will visit you tomorrow, and if I so much as smell a hint of alcohol in your hut then, I will cease to assist you in maintaining your job here. Am I understood?"
Hagrid, hanging his head, replied, "Yes, Professor, I understand." Then he turned slowly and left.
Dumbledore then turned to the boys and said, "You may go and tell the students that the situation has been taken care of and that it is safe to return. Inform them that their prefects will tell them all about it tomorrow morning, but don't answer any of their questions now."
"Yes, sir," James said, and they all turned and walked down the hall to find where their fellow students had congregated.
They found the terrified masses in the Great Hall. The prefects vainly attempted to calm them down, but since they had no facts (and some were just as terrified) they weren't very effective. Remus went over to Meg Weasley, who looked like one of the calmest of the prefects and delivered Dumbledore's message. She looked relieved and pointed her wand at her throat and said, "Sonorus!"
"Attention," she said, but in an amplified voice that immediately quieted the immense room. "I have been informed that the situation is over and it is safe to return to your common rooms. The headmaster will talk with the prefects tonight, and they will answer any students' questions tomorrow morning. Prefects, please lead your students back to their towers."
Then Meg pointed the wand at her throat and mumbled something else. Her voice returned to normal and she called for the Gryffindors to gather around her and she led them back to the tower.
The next day, the boys caught Lily up on what had happened, filling in all of the details that the prefects had left out (mostly that Martin was a pet, and not a wild animal that wandered in). She, of course, felt just as bad for Hagrid as the rest of them, and suggested using their free hour to visit Hagrid. The Marauders readily agreed, but on their way out, they met Dumbledore coming in. He guessed what they were up to and told them not to disturb Hagrid. But he seemed pretty cheerful, so Remus figured that Hagrid hadn't drunk himself into a stupor.
A few days later, Lily reported that she had seen Dumbledore sending off a crate with a witch on a broomstick, so they knew that Martin was safely away. Then they went to see Hagrid, who seemed to be recovering, although he kept repeating what a great man Dumbledore was, so he wasn't very interesting to talk to. Somehow the headmaster had managed to keep Hagrid his job, but with stern warnings not to try raising wild creatures in his hut without permission.
It wasn't long before the excitement over the quintaped died down and the Marauders were itching to play another prank. James and Sirius spent quite a bit of time with their heads together, trying to come up with something good. Finally, they had a brainstorm. Sirius had read about a spell that acted like super glue, holding any object to any surface. So they planned to perform the spell on all of the teacher's desks on the same day.
"But how will we get them all out of their classrooms?" Remus asked the masterminds, as they sat in their dorm room before bed.
"You know how McGonagall is almost late every Wednesday for our first lesson?" James slyly replied.
Remus, Austin and Peter nodded, waiting anxiously to hear where this was leading.
"It's because all of the teachers are at a staff meeting between breakfast and lessons. So if we did the spell in the very early morning, they wouldn't realize what had happened until lessons had started."
As James finished, huge smiles began spreading across the others' faces. "Wicked," Remus added, appreciatively.
"We figured three of us could take the job of performing the spell and the other two could make sure the staff meeting didn't let out early," Sirius continued. "Does that sound good?"
Again, Peter, Austin and Remus nodded.
"Can I help with the spell?" Peter spoke up suddenly.
James looked a bit concerned. "Well, Peter, it's not that you couldn't do it, we just thought it would be more believable if you were one of the people who went to the staff meeting. You could be asking for help in Potions or something. We were going to send you and Remus, if that's ok with both of you."
Remus nodded, knowing that he could play this part and he would get in on the action later. Peter hesitated, then also nodded, showing great enthusiasm. "That makes perfect sense," he said, smiling.
"Great!" James looked relieved. "Should we put this plan into action this Wednesday, then?"
"That's the day after tomorrow," Remus thought aloud. "Will that give you three time to learn the spell?"
"Sure," Sirius stated. "It seems pretty simple."
"Alright then, Wednesday it is."
They all put a hand into the center of their circle and said, "Marauders forever," as they threw their hands in the air.