Chapter four: Close Encounter
"James?" Peter asked later on in the day, as they were lazing about around the lake as per usual.
"Hmm" James said to show he was listening,
"Do you fancy an adventure?" Peter asked. James, who had been lying on his back suddenly sat up. Remus, who had been reading, suddenly looked up from his book, and Sirius, who had been staring into space, also, jerked back into life. The same mischievous grin spread across all four of their faces, "I'd love to," Remus said
"Yeah, me too" Sirius said
"Yeah, and there's no way we could get expelled, is there?" James said in agreement. The others nodded.
"So where should we go?" Peter asked,
"Well Wormtail, my old friend, I think we should do something very chancing" James said
"You've got my attention, Prongs" Sirius said
"Well, Padfoot, my dear friend, and of course, you too Moony, how about, we go up to the highest astronomy tower, for a little. I donno, midnight stroll?" James suggested.
"Midnight?" Remus asked
"Astronomy tower?" Peter asked
"Brilliant. Prongs, if I do say so my self; you are a genius" Sirius said. James did a little fake bow,
"Thank you, Thank you very much" James said laughing. The boys spent the rest of the day by the lake. They were mainly deciding what to do that night, and how to get past Filtch the caretaker not to mention his cat Smokey. By the time they had finished there plan properly, and got it all ready, it was time for dinner, so they made there way back up to the castle, for a Saturday dinner. The dinner wasn't as big and grand as the last night, but it was still great. When dinner was over, they all went upstairs and had a load of games of Exploding Snap. By ten to midnight, Peter had lost his eyebrows, Remus had a huge black patch on his cheek, Sirius had singed his hair and so had James. "I think we should go with out the invisibility cloak," Sirius suddenly blurted out.
"Are you mad?" Remus questioned, "We'll get caught for sure!" He stated
"We couldn't. Were Animagus, we could transform" Peter pointed out
"Yeah, we could transform" Sirius said
"Hmm, interesting thought, and what is Flitch going to think when he sees a dirty great stag roaming about in Hogwarts. And how bout Moony, he cant transform, and it isn't even the full moon yet, it isn't for three weeks!" James said
"Awwwww, come on James, you love this kind of thing, it's a risk" Sirius said in a pleading voice
"Oh, okay. Go on then, you in Moony?" James asked
"Well, I suppose, if we do hear signs of people coming, we could leg it, that worked in first year, remember, yeah, go for it, I'm in!" Remus announced.
James, Sirius, Peter and Remus stated to make there way towards the highest astronomy tower, through the portrait of the fat lady, up the sixth floor, up the seventh, "Shhh, what was that?" Sirius asked in a whisper, they all turned round, searching for the source of the noise.
"Is anyone here? Did you hear someone my darling?" They heard a voice say.
"Its Filtch," Peter said.
"Yes, I think we can tell that!" James said spitefully to Peter.
"Who's there?" Filtch demanded. James laughed; he took out his wand and made one of the books on the other side of the room (next to the other exit) drop. Remus then did a very clever spell that made him be able to throw his voice, "Oh shoot" he made his voice say, but on the other side of the room, just as the book fell. Peter suppressed a laugh as he saw Filtch go zooming after the source of the noise. The Marauders burst in to laughter when Filtch's footsteps had died away. "Onward and upward" Sirius said. The boys made there way upwards, the eighth floor, the ninth, then about half an hour later, after tons of walking slowly and quietly, they reached the highest astronomy tower. "We made it" Peter said
"Well that was boring" James said sitting down on one of the benches.
"I concur" Remus said
"We didn't even, nearly, get caught" Sirius said sitting down next to James.
"We made it" Peter shouted into the night of the balcony.
"What the hell are you doing?" Sirius asked Peter,
"Run" Remus said quietly. They didn't need to ask why he said that, because they could all hear footsteps getting nearer and nearer. James, Sirius and Remus all gave Peter a murderous stare before they all turned on there heals and fled. The boys reached the trophy room before they stopped running. The trophy room was one floor above the Gryffindor common room, "Phew, we made it" Peter said panting, the boys all rounded on Peter,
"In case you have forgotten your way around Hogwarts, you would see that we are one floor, above, the Gryffindor common room. And in case you're deaf, there are footsteps coming our way!" James pointed out to Peter.
"Shush. Just let's just hide here, okay?" Remus suggested. They all nodded.
"I can hear you, oh yes I can, I know your in here, stop hiding and come and face old Filtchy." They heard Filtch say.
"Ahhchoo." Remus sneezed, but it came out behind where Filtch was, making him run out of the room in peruse of the noise. "Lets get out of here" Sirius said. They all followed him back to Gryffindor common and dropped into the comfy chairs by the fireplace, which only had glowing embers in it. "You know what we need?" James asked the gang
"A new best friend?" Sirius asked looking threateningly at Peter, who recoiled in his chair and blushed
"No" James said firmly "We need a map, a map that only we know how to use. A map, that will show us everything" James said.
"Yeah, we do, don't we?" Sirius said
"How do we get one of those?" Peter asked
"Haven't a clue, just thought I'd tell you that we needed one" James said smiling slightly.
"Hold on, I've read about them kind of things, you can bewitch pieces of parchment, it says so in Zonco's official book!" Remus said looking gleeful.
"Great, do you have the book?" Sirius asked him, now sitting up straight.
"Yeah, its in my trunk, I'll get it tomorrow, I'm to tiered tonight" Remus said yawning. The boy then made there way up to bed and for the second night in a row, James didn't bother taking of his glasses when he went to sleep.
"James?" Peter asked later on in the day, as they were lazing about around the lake as per usual.
"Hmm" James said to show he was listening,
"Do you fancy an adventure?" Peter asked. James, who had been lying on his back suddenly sat up. Remus, who had been reading, suddenly looked up from his book, and Sirius, who had been staring into space, also, jerked back into life. The same mischievous grin spread across all four of their faces, "I'd love to," Remus said
"Yeah, me too" Sirius said
"Yeah, and there's no way we could get expelled, is there?" James said in agreement. The others nodded.
"So where should we go?" Peter asked,
"Well Wormtail, my old friend, I think we should do something very chancing" James said
"You've got my attention, Prongs" Sirius said
"Well, Padfoot, my dear friend, and of course, you too Moony, how about, we go up to the highest astronomy tower, for a little. I donno, midnight stroll?" James suggested.
"Midnight?" Remus asked
"Astronomy tower?" Peter asked
"Brilliant. Prongs, if I do say so my self; you are a genius" Sirius said. James did a little fake bow,
"Thank you, Thank you very much" James said laughing. The boys spent the rest of the day by the lake. They were mainly deciding what to do that night, and how to get past Filtch the caretaker not to mention his cat Smokey. By the time they had finished there plan properly, and got it all ready, it was time for dinner, so they made there way back up to the castle, for a Saturday dinner. The dinner wasn't as big and grand as the last night, but it was still great. When dinner was over, they all went upstairs and had a load of games of Exploding Snap. By ten to midnight, Peter had lost his eyebrows, Remus had a huge black patch on his cheek, Sirius had singed his hair and so had James. "I think we should go with out the invisibility cloak," Sirius suddenly blurted out.
"Are you mad?" Remus questioned, "We'll get caught for sure!" He stated
"We couldn't. Were Animagus, we could transform" Peter pointed out
"Yeah, we could transform" Sirius said
"Hmm, interesting thought, and what is Flitch going to think when he sees a dirty great stag roaming about in Hogwarts. And how bout Moony, he cant transform, and it isn't even the full moon yet, it isn't for three weeks!" James said
"Awwwww, come on James, you love this kind of thing, it's a risk" Sirius said in a pleading voice
"Oh, okay. Go on then, you in Moony?" James asked
"Well, I suppose, if we do hear signs of people coming, we could leg it, that worked in first year, remember, yeah, go for it, I'm in!" Remus announced.
James, Sirius, Peter and Remus stated to make there way towards the highest astronomy tower, through the portrait of the fat lady, up the sixth floor, up the seventh, "Shhh, what was that?" Sirius asked in a whisper, they all turned round, searching for the source of the noise.
"Is anyone here? Did you hear someone my darling?" They heard a voice say.
"Its Filtch," Peter said.
"Yes, I think we can tell that!" James said spitefully to Peter.
"Who's there?" Filtch demanded. James laughed; he took out his wand and made one of the books on the other side of the room (next to the other exit) drop. Remus then did a very clever spell that made him be able to throw his voice, "Oh shoot" he made his voice say, but on the other side of the room, just as the book fell. Peter suppressed a laugh as he saw Filtch go zooming after the source of the noise. The Marauders burst in to laughter when Filtch's footsteps had died away. "Onward and upward" Sirius said. The boys made there way upwards, the eighth floor, the ninth, then about half an hour later, after tons of walking slowly and quietly, they reached the highest astronomy tower. "We made it" Peter said
"Well that was boring" James said sitting down on one of the benches.
"I concur" Remus said
"We didn't even, nearly, get caught" Sirius said sitting down next to James.
"We made it" Peter shouted into the night of the balcony.
"What the hell are you doing?" Sirius asked Peter,
"Run" Remus said quietly. They didn't need to ask why he said that, because they could all hear footsteps getting nearer and nearer. James, Sirius and Remus all gave Peter a murderous stare before they all turned on there heals and fled. The boys reached the trophy room before they stopped running. The trophy room was one floor above the Gryffindor common room, "Phew, we made it" Peter said panting, the boys all rounded on Peter,
"In case you have forgotten your way around Hogwarts, you would see that we are one floor, above, the Gryffindor common room. And in case you're deaf, there are footsteps coming our way!" James pointed out to Peter.
"Shush. Just let's just hide here, okay?" Remus suggested. They all nodded.
"I can hear you, oh yes I can, I know your in here, stop hiding and come and face old Filtchy." They heard Filtch say.
"Ahhchoo." Remus sneezed, but it came out behind where Filtch was, making him run out of the room in peruse of the noise. "Lets get out of here" Sirius said. They all followed him back to Gryffindor common and dropped into the comfy chairs by the fireplace, which only had glowing embers in it. "You know what we need?" James asked the gang
"A new best friend?" Sirius asked looking threateningly at Peter, who recoiled in his chair and blushed
"No" James said firmly "We need a map, a map that only we know how to use. A map, that will show us everything" James said.
"Yeah, we do, don't we?" Sirius said
"How do we get one of those?" Peter asked
"Haven't a clue, just thought I'd tell you that we needed one" James said smiling slightly.
"Hold on, I've read about them kind of things, you can bewitch pieces of parchment, it says so in Zonco's official book!" Remus said looking gleeful.
"Great, do you have the book?" Sirius asked him, now sitting up straight.
"Yeah, its in my trunk, I'll get it tomorrow, I'm to tiered tonight" Remus said yawning. The boy then made there way up to bed and for the second night in a row, James didn't bother taking of his glasses when he went to sleep.