Chapter 7: Pranks and Flights
"So," the Dark Lord said to himself, sitting on his throne. "Potter's an elf is he? Well then. I guess we'll have to remove him from the picture as soon as possible. Wormtail!"
Pettigrew scurried forth from the shadows, and approached the throne.
"I want you to kill Potter at the next opportunity. He must die as soon as possible." The dark lord hissed.
"Yes, My Lord. I shall do it this Saturday. The Gryffindors are holding their Quidditch tryouts, so Potter will be vulnerable."
"Good. Take a few Death Eaters with you. Remember, you must stay out of the fight itself. You are too useful as a spy to endanger yourself. After Potter is dead, continue to spy on what happens at Hogwarts. I want to know everything that muggle loving fool Dumbledore does."
"Of course my lord. I will not fail you." Pettigrew groveled, as he hastened out of the room.
"Lucius. Your task is to find out as much as you can about these elves. I want to know everything. I don't care if you have to break into the Ministry to get it!"
"At once my lord." Lucius said smoothly.
"Good. Now leave. I have things I need to consider. Oh wait, Lucius, you forgot to bow. Crucio!"
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Harry woke with a start, sweat beading on his forehead. It was a good thing that elves were immune to hostile mind intrusions.. If he had continued with occulmency, he would never have gotten that warning, or the warning about the attack during the feast. Voldemort could no longer control his mind, so he knew everything he saw in his dreams was true.
'Hmmmm. So Voldemort was planning to try to kill him during the Quidditch tryouts was he? This would be very interesting indeed. Not too mention fun!' He thought, before going back to sleep.
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When Harry woke that morning, he decided it was time to reveal another part of the new Harry. During the summer, he had been forced to endure being trained by one Allia Vashi Daldanan. While she was renowned in the Elven Kingdoms as one of the best with the bow, and sword of the time, she also had a sort of split personality. At times, she could be dead serious, and could be trusted in any situation. At other times, if you were smart, you would stay as far away from her as you possibly could. She was also the best elven prankster alive. According to her, she had learned from the very best. James Potter himself. She had vowed to herself that she would ensure that when Harry left the elven kingdom, he would be worthy of being called the son of a Marauder. And so, she had taken him under her wing, and taught him all the tricks of the trade. Harry learnt quickly, for it seemed pranking was in his blood. Together, the two of them, combined with Apollo, who was used for scouting, and planting items, and Rathi, who was useful for quick escapes, they wreaked havoc on the elven city. By the end of his time there, she had been proud to dub him an official Marauder, with all privileges and responsibilities that came with the title. She had named him Bolt, for the lightning bolt symbol that was present on all his animal forms. And so, Harry emerged a prankster, and was set to make his grand entry into the world of terrorizing students, in particular, Slimy Slytherins, around the school.
This was why Harry could be found walking through a deserted hallway while all others in the castle were still asleep. He had found many interesting things amongst his Father's belongings at Falandais. Among them was a particular book, which documented all Marauder activity, and their secrets.
At last, he reached what he was looking for. It was a portrait of four animals. A stag, a large dog, a wolf, and perched on the stag's head, a small rat. Smiling to himself, Harry opened the book, and tapped it once.
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." He intoned.
He watched, smiling, as writing spread across the page.
'Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs Proudly Present: The Marauder's Guide to Marauding; Pranking for Dummies, and our secrets.'
"Mr. Bolt would like to request the password for access into the Lair." Harry said to the book.
"Mr. Prongs would like to remind Mr. Bolt that the password is 'I solemnly swear to give Slytherins hell."
"Mr. Wormtail would like to remind Mr. Bolt that he should never get caught as the items and knowledge contained within the Lair are very incriminating.
"Mr. Padfoot would like to tell Mr. Wormtail to shut up, and stop worrying about the consequences, and encourages Mr. Bolt to make the prank worthy of the Marauder name.
"Mr. Moony agrees with Mr. Padfoot, and wishes Mr. Bolt the best of luck with future pranks."
Harry smiled. "Thanks guys." He said, as he closed the book.
Turning to the portrait, he dutifully intoned the password. As soon as he finished speaking, the animals on the canvas began to move, looking at him, then bowing, and with that, the portrait swung open, revealing the room beyond.
Harry whistled as he gazed into the room beyond. Now he knew why the Marauders didn't include this room on the Marauder's Map. They wouldn't want to risk a professor finding, and discovering how to use, the map, and then finding there way into this room.
For what was contained within the room before him was a prankster's paradise. To one side, was a miniature potions lab, complete with bottles of every ingredient imaginable, no doubt stolen from the teacher's stores. Above the counter, was a shelf, with several books labeled 'Prank Potion Recipes'.
There was a section devoted to charmed items, which would put Fred and George to shame, along with detailed instructions of their effects, and how to make more of them.
Finally, there was, and here Harry broke into what could only be described as an evil grin, sitting on a pedestal, a massive book. Its title: 'Every Spell That Can Be Used For Pranks That Has Ever Existed, From Now Til The Day After Tomorrow, by the Marauders.'
Quickly Harry began preparing. He rapidly whipped up a large batch of a particularly useful potion, and quickly flipped through The Book, and noted down a couple good spells.
On his way outside to begin his morning training, he made one brief stop over in the kitchens, to have a word with Dobby. He smiled as he left the kitchens, his backpack lighter by the weight of several large potion bottles. Slytherin would be in for one hell of a surprise at breakfast!
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When Harry entered the Great Hall, he took a quick glance at the Slytherin table. Good, the potion hadn't taken effect yet. He didn't want to miss a single thing. He sat down in his usual place at the Gryffindor table, still staring intently at the Slytherins. He didn't even notice his friends trying to get his attention until he felt a kick coming under the table from Ron's direction.
"Harry! Listen to me. I wanted to tell you about the Chud-" He began, before being interrupted.
"Not now Ron, trust me." Harry said, still not looking away. "I want to see Malfoy's face once this takes effect."
"Once what takes effect Harry? What are you talking about?" Ginny asked.
"Oh nothing. Just watch the Slytherins you three. Should be any second now." Harry smirked.
And it was. No sooner had Ron, Hermione and Ginny turned to look, when they noticed every Slytherin started to turn red. Deep red. Gryffindor red. Not only that, but all of their hair began to turn a brilliant Gryffindor gold. Snape was affected as well.
Malfoy was the first to notice. Looking around at his shockingly coloured house mates, he began to yell. Naturally, this attracted the attention of every single person in the Great Hall, who began to laugh uproariously.
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, shocked. "What did you do?"
"You aint seen nothing yet." Harry said, still grinning broadly. With a quick flick of his wrist, the robes of the Slytherins changed. Where once they were black with green and silver borders, now they were horrifying. They were a glittering gold, with large red polka dots adorning them. On the backs, they read 'We are Slimy Slytherins. Gryffindor Rules!'
"Harry! I would never of thought you would do such a thing!" Ginny said.
"Well, Ginny. That would be because you never knew I was the son of a Marauder." Harry replied.
"A Marauder? You mean those pranksters Fred and George idolize? Your father was one of them? Do Fred and George know?" Ginny queried.
"Nope. They have no clue. I'm planning to surprise introduce them to their idols at some point after Christmas. Well minus Wormtail of course." He said.
"Why not Wormtail?" Ginny asked.
"Don't ask that Ginny. Trust me, just don't pursue that question." Ron said.
"Wormtail was Pettigrew." Harry said shortly.
"Oh. Wait, you mean Ron and Hermione knew about the Marauders?" She asked.
"Yup. Although they don't know the half of what those guys did. Now, if you excuse me, I have to add the finishing touch." Harry said.
As he looked back towards the Slytherins, he saw they were all frantically trying to undo the effects of the spell, while all the other students, and some of the teachers, continued to laugh.
With another flick of his wrist, the ceiling of the Great Hall began to darken, until it turned the same red as the Slytherins. There, in bold golden writing, came the following words.
"The Lair of the Marauders has been opened. Enemies of the Heir, Beware! -Bolt."
Upon reading the words, Dumbledore turned his gaze to Harry, his eyes twinkling in amusement. McGonagall also looked at Harry, although she didn't look anywhere near as amused. In fact, her facial expression seemed to cry out; "Oh god! Now there's another one!" She looked like she was going to cry.
"Now," Harry said, turning to his friends, "if you excuse me, I fear I must make a hasty retreat."
He quickly ran from the hall, ignoring the loud yell that came from Snape as he read the message.
"POTTER!"
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Harry arrived at Charms, his only class for the day, fairly early that day. As soon as he arrived, Professor Flitwick approached him.
"Now, Harry. I would like to request that you refrain from any pranks while in my classroom. If you disturb my class, I may be forced to take points away." The tiny professor said.
"Of course professor." Harry responded.
"Excellent!" Said Flitwick, clapping his hands together. "However, I must say this. I was very fond of your father and his friends, and always enjoyed their pranks. I must say, you certainly seem more than capable at living up to their reputation. Ten points to Gryffindor for the marvelous charm work you did in that prank! Most impressive Mr. Potter!"
Harry grinned. "Thanks sir!"
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The rest of his day passed quickly. He spent most of it in the Lair, planning out future pranks. When dinner came around, he told Ron, Hermione, and Ginny that he needed to talk to them in private after the meal.
After eating, Harry led them to the Room of Requirement, which was currently looking like a throne room from a medieval castle.
'Wonder why it looks like this?' Ron thought, before turning his attention back to Harry.
"Now then. I'm sure you all have some questions as to why I have brought you here. And the answer to those questions is that I would like to offer you membership in the Marauders.
"Bloody Brilliant!" Said Ron. "I'm in. Where do I sign up?"
"I'm in too!" Cried Ginny.
"I don't know Harry." Said Hermione. "Me and Ron are Prefects, and I don't know if we should be doing this."
"C'mon Mione." Said Ron. "Remus was a prefect, and he was a Marauder. He even became a teacher! Maybe you'll be like him!"
"In that case, I'm in!" Said Hermione, still somewhat nervously.
Grinning, Harry motioned for them all to kneel down before the throne. Then he drew one of his swords, and stood in front of Ron.
"Ronald Weasley, I hear by dub you a member of the Maruaders, with all rights and responsibilities that accompany the name. Your animagus form is a fox, so I name thee Swift. May thou be a good and true Prankster. Rise Mr. Swift!"
Harry quickly repeated the procedure with Hermione, naming her Feathers.
When he came to Ginny, he passed her a small potion bottle, saying it was the same potion they had used in their Transfiguration class. Quickly drinking it, her form was revealed to be a panther. However, Harry couldn't help but notice while she was a panther, she seemed to flicker a bit, but he quickly passed it off as his imagination. He named Ginny Huntress.
"Now, what I am about to show you is the most closely guarded of our secrets." He said, as he led them out the door, and down the hall.
"Welcome," he said, as he stopped next to a portrait, "to the Lair."
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The next day was Saturday, and Gryffindor was holding its tryouts. Harry knew that Death Eaters would attack him today, but he didn't think it would be anything he couldn't handle. He would easily be able to protect himself from their curses, and they wouldn't stand a chance against him in physical combat. He was only worried about them harming others, in particular, Ginny.
When they made it out to the Quidditch Pitch, Harry was shocked to see most of the student population, as well as numerous Professors, were there.
"What the bloody hell is going on here Professor," He asked McGonagall. "Do you want everyone to see our new chasers before we even start practice?"
"I'm sorry Harry," She responded. "But there's nothing we can do. They have every right to watch if they want."
"Damn. Oh well." Said Harry before turning to the waiting Gryffindors. "Alright you lot, everyone who's trying out, go do some warm up flying. Everyone else, take a seat in the stands."
Harry waited while all the Gryffindors got seated, and by the time they were done, the Gryffindors trying out had completed their warm up.
"Okay you lot, here's what we're going to do. One at a time, you will each be taking shots on Ron. The three who get the most in out of twenty, get the positions." He said simply.
Harry quickly flew up to a good height, where he could observe easily, and signaled the first would-be chaser to go.
By the end of the tryouts, it was clear who were the best. Ginny Weasley, Colin Creevey, and Seamus Finnagin were beyond a doubt better than the rest. Ginny had managed to score 19 out of her twenty, while Colin and Seamus both got 18. The next best only managed 13.
Harry was nearly 100 feet in the air at the end, and when he was about to fly down to congratulate the three winners, he noticed someone had let the snitch out. All other thoughts were driven from his head as he quickly began to speed after it at top speed. Those thoughts included the need to watch for the Death Eaters.
So it was, that Harry was flying very high up, at extremely high speeds, and away from the watching students in the stands, when suddenly he felt his Firebolt twitch, as if hit by a spell. Coming back to reality, he quickly looked down. Below him, and about 50 metres from where he was, stood three Death Eaters, with wands out.
He barely had time to register this before his Firebolt stopped extremely suddenly. Caught off guard by this, Harry wasn't able to do anything as he was flung from his broom, catapulting forward at high speed.
Harry wasn't concerned, as he watched the ground grow steadily nearer. He could just turn into a phoenix and fly away! Closing his eyes, and willed himself to change, and opened his eyes.
'Oh bloody hell.' He thought, as he saw he was still in his normal body. 'I really, REALLY hate anti-animagus wards."
Ginny screamed as she saw Harry fly from his broom. She knew there was nothing she, or any of the others watching, could do to slow Harry's descent. They were too far away to be able to accurately cast a spell. They could only watch in horror as Harry flew through the air, and began to fall towards the Death Eaters who stood waiting below, wide smirks on their faces, as they watched The-Boy-Who-Lived plummet towards impending death.
Oops. A cliffie. Oh I'm so sorry about that. I didn't mean for that to happen! Insert evil grin here. I guess Harry's just going to fall to his death. Oh well. I guess Voldemort wins.
