Can I just say that "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" ROCKED? My hat's off to Alfonso Cuaron, who took over admirably for Chris Columbus. It's a shame he doesn't want to direct the next one. That being said...yeah I don't own anything.

The Next Generation: Marauders3

Chapter 9: Potions Without Pranks

The main topic over breakfast the next day was, of course, the prank that had occurred during Defense Against the Dark Arts. It seemed that since Professor Snape's mouth was rather incapacitated, he couldn't lift the spell on his own. And since he was squinting so much that his eyes were essentially shut, he stumbled around blindly until he found someone to repeal the Lemon-Face Spell. Needless to say, the tales of his exploits spread through the school like magical wildfire.

Richard, Eddie, and Henry sat quietly at the Gryffindor table, talking amongst themselves. Floating just above the table, the apparitions of Harry and Ron joined in the conversation.

"Hey guys!"

All five of them turned at once to the Ravenclaw table. Richard and Eddie's cousin, Sarah Weasley (eldest daughter of Fred Weasley and former Beauxbatons student Marie St. Claire) leaned over toward them conspiratorially.

"I heard about that prank that was pulled on Snape during your class...You didn't have anything to do with it, did you?" The three boys exchanged a glance or two. Eddie cleared his throat, looked Sarah straight in the eye, and crossed his fingers behind his back.

"Sarah, we had absolutely nothing to do with it." Sarah's eyes twinkled.

"Yeah, I'm sure you didn't." She got up and joined the three boys at the Gryffindor table. "How did you manage it?" To everyone's surprise, Henry spoke up first.

"You mean you don't know how to do a Lemon-Face Spell? I'd really expect better from a third year student." Everyone looked at him in shock before Sarah burst out laughing.

"Ok, I suppose I deserved that..." The conversation drifted down other paths as breakfast wore on. Every so often, Richard would sneak a peek at Professor Snape. He could have sworn Snape was watching him rather intently.

Just before the end of breakfast, Draco Malfoy Jr. passed by the Gryffindor table.

"Oh look...it's a pair of Weasels!" he said, laughing. Sarah and Eddie turned red and would have beaten him into the ground if Richard, Henry, and John Fortis hadn't been holding them back.

"Well, Potter" Draco continued, drawling just like his father, "I can't wait to see you get detention."

"For what?" Richard replied. "I didn't pull that prank."

"No, of course you didn't" Draco said. "Professor Snape's not stupid, you know. Being hit with a spell right after he disciplines the three of you? However, he can't prove it. So he's decided to get you another way. After the spell was lifted, he gave us first year Slytherins the homework assignment everyone was supposed to get. And guess who didn't hear what it was?"

"The Gryffindors..." John said in horror. The others looked at him in shock. Usually, he didn't say anything at all.

"That's right, Fortis" Draco said. "So guess who gets detention for not handing in their homework?" He smirked.

"Why would you tell us that, Draco?" Eddie asked.

"The simple pleasure of knowing, Weasel Boy, that you'll be sweating for the next two days! Good luck in Defense tomorrow!" Draco walked away, laughing his head off. No one sitting (or floating) at the Gryffindor table could believe what had just happened.

"Can he do that?" John asked, horrified.

"I think he can" Sarah answered. "Teachers are allowed to assign whatever homework they choose. I don't think there's a rule that says it has to be assigned in the classroom...of course the people making the rules probably never assumed someone like Snape would be teaching."

"It's definitely something new" Harry spoke up, although most of the people present didn't hear him. "I'm surprised he never tried that with us."

"Too right, Beaky" Ron replied. "Imagine how much worse we would have done if we didn't know the homework assignments."

"Yeah, but we hardly ever did the assignments anyway..."
"So what should we do?" Richard asked, cutting off his apparitional father and uncle.

"First things first" Eddie said. "The four of us that have Potions should get going. It's nearly time for class. What have you got, Sarah?"

"Care of Magical Creatures" Sarah replied. "Oh, the joys of caring for flobberworms." She rolled his eyes and laughed as the five of them stood up.

"I heard that Potions used to be in a dungeon" John said as they left the Great Hall. "It's not still there, is it?"

"Nope" Eddie said. "It was when my mum and dad were students here, but my mum moved it to a classroom on the first floor when she got the Potions position." Harry and Ron groaned overhead.

"Lucky kids...not only do they get a warm classroom in the winter, but they don't have to deal with Snape!"

"Yes they do! Just not here!"

"Shut up! You know what I mean!" Harry and Ron fought and floated through things as the four boys made their way to room nine.

Hermione Weasley (nee Granger) looked up and smiled to herself as her son, her nephew, her husband, and her best friend all came through the door. "I wondered how soon they'd find the gift" she thought to herself.

Harry and Ron smiled as well when they saw Hermione.

"That's my girl" said Ron. "Fully qualified Hogwarts professor!"

"Yeah" Harry replied. "It's a shame about her leg, though." Near the end of the war, Hermione had been hit with a rather powerful spell that unfortunately destroyed her right leg below the knee. Luckily, some emergency spellwork and a Muggle artificial leg (since she didn't want to go the "Mad-Eye Moody route") fixed most of the problem. A slight limp was the only indication that anything had happened. Eddie walked up to her desk as soon as he came in.

"Mum, we've got a problem..."

"I'm afraid I can't discuss it right now, Edward" Hermione said. Eddie cringed slightly at the use of his full name. "Just go and sit down, and I'll talk to you after class." Eddie turned and went to sit down amongst a few good-natured snickers of "Edward".

"That 'Edward' remark almost deserves a prank in itself" Harry remarked to Ron.

"We can't" Ron replied. "She'd see it coming. Not to mention the fact that..."

"That I can hear you?" Hermione murmured quietly as she walked past. Harry and Ron jumped. Hermione merely smiled and drew her wand, pointing it at the table in front of the boys.

"Deprivo Intermittus" Hermione muttered. A jet of white light covered the wands on the table. Harry and Ron groaned out loud.

"Ouch. Temporary loss of wand use."

"She's too clever for our own good." Hermione smiled again.

"Just in case you boys get any ideas..." She walked back to her desk as the rest of the students filed into the room.

"Good afternoon, students. My name is Professor Weasley, and I am your Potions professor." Harry and Ron's chests swelled with pride as she spoke.

"Today, we will be creating a very simple potion to remove warts. If you purchased a basic potion-making kit before arriving at school, you should already have powdered spine of lionfish." She flicked her wand at the cupboard in the back of the room. "The other ingredients, shredded maidenhair root and carrot juice, are in the cupboard in the back. You'll need equal amounts of each ingredient. However," and at this point she smiled, "I've decided to challenge you just a little bit. I don't expect that each of you have read your textbooks back to front, of course, but consider this. One of the ingredients I've just given you is not right. The student or students who figure out which one it is, and produce a perfect potion, will receive ten points for their house. You have the entire class time to work."

There was immediately a flurry of activity. Not to get the potion ingredients...everyone grabbed their copies of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. Harry and Ron floated up to Hermione for a quick conversation.

"Uh, was this what you had in mind, Feathers?"

"Actually" Hermione replied, "it was. I like to get my students reading." Harry and Ron groaned.

"Hermione and her reading...why did you marry her, Lionheart?"

"I know...all this forcing children to read...she ought to be locked up!"

Richard and Eddie didn't hear a word of this. They were too busy perusing through their books.

"Where is it...where...aha!" Eddie cried quietly. Richard and Henry looked over. John kept poring through his book.

"You found it already?" Henry said, mystified.

"Think about it, Henry! The textbook for this class deals with magical herbs and fungi. Spine of lionfish and carrot juice wouldn't be in here, but maidenhair root would! And it's obviously the wrong ingredient because maidenhair root in any form causes infertility!"

"Well, he's obviously his mother's son" Ron said as he floated back towards the boys.

"Thanks, Dad" Eddie muttered.

"So" Richard said. "Now that we've got that figured out...what's the ingredient we need?"

"This one" John said, placing a container of powder on the table. "Powdered ginger roots." The other three (five if you count the apparitions) looked at him in shock.

"How....?" Henry asked, wide-eyed. John smiled.

"The index." He flipped to the back of the book and pointed to Warts. "Oddly enough, there's a list of things there that help with wart removal."

All four of the boys smiled and reached for the spine of lionfish in their potion kits. After a few minutes (and a trip to the cupboard for carrot juice), the potions were finished. There were four cauldrons with identical light orange mixtures in them.

"Finished already?" Hermione said as she stood up and walked over to them. "Exceptional work, boys...now we'll see if you passed my challenge." She drew her wand and spoke. "Inflammicus!"

The four boys immediately sprouted warts. Big ugly warts.

"Mum!" Eddie said, shocked.

"Oh, you know, just in case my brilliant son and his brilliant cousin decided to spike their potions with something..." Hermione said.

"Wow" Harry said. "I'm surprised we didn't think of that."

"I'm not" Ron replied. Hermione smiled quietly.

"Ok, boys, it's time to see if your potions are effective." Richard was the first to go. He took his ladle and drank a small amount of his potion. After a couple of seconds, his warts disappeared.

Hermione smiled as the other boys followed suit. "That would seem to be forty points to Gryffindor, boys. Congratulations. I'll just go and see how your classmates are doing." A loud explosion from the other side of the room made everyone jump. Hermione winced.

"You know, I think they might not be doing too well..." She walked away. Richard quickly bottled a sample of his potion and tucked it into his robes.

"Never know when we might need it" he said in response to Eddie's questioning look. "Now, how should we spend the rest of the class?"

"I don't know...reading?" Eddie said. Richard rolled his eyes.

"How'd I know you'd say that...Henry? What do you think?" Henry seemed a little surprised to be asked.

"I think, since we're already behind on homework, we should find out what the assignment is for this class and get it done quick!"

"Hmmmm, good point" Richard said. "Dad?" he whispered. "Can you tell aunt Hermione about our little problem?"

"Can do." Harry floated over to Hermione. After a minute or two, she spoke up.

"Class, your homework tonight is to read chapters one through five and summarize them for me. Those of you that are finished with your potion may get started on that."

"See? I told you we should read!" Eddie gloated.

"Ok, fine!" The boys got to work, reading and writing notes. A few minutes later, Harry floated back over.

"Boys, you should always respect Feathers."

"What are you talking about, Dad?" Richard asked.

"She reminded me that, as Marauders-in-training, you should be able to sneak into Snape's room tonight and find his lesson plan." Richard and Eddie stopped dead.

"You're right. We can go through the Meeting Place..."

"Into the Slytherin common room..."

"And from there" Ron cut in, "we can show you how to get into Snape's bedroom!" Richard sighed.

"It's going to be a while until we're on our parents' level, I think."

"I think you're right, Richie" Eddie said.

"Uh, excuse me" John spoke up from the end of the table, "but what are you talking about? The Meeting Place? Slytherin common room?" Richard, Eddie, and Henry looked at each other and smiled.

"You know...I think we found our fourth Marauder." John looked even more confused.

"Your fourth what?"

(A/N: Ok. The rest of the school day will be mentioned in passing in the next chapter. Suffice it to say History of Magic and Charms will be involved. There may be time for a prank while the Marauders are in Snape's bedroom...oh who am I kidding? Of course there'll be a prank! Read and review please!)