Testing Your Muggle and American Skills!
By Moony
Oh my gosh! I love you reviewers! You rock! Shoutouts for you at the bottom! –Moony
I don't own any characters you recognize. They are the property of Joanne Kathleen Rowling, and I guess Warner Brothers, and whoever else has a license on those characters. The kind witch who escorts them, now named Ms. Karl, is mine. The teachers are real people, I don't own them. I am a real person. I own Michelle. Anne is a real person, though it is not her real name. I do not own her. Marissa is a real person, but her last name is altered. I don't own her. And also, I know it's supposedly summertime, and school doesn't start, but let's just pretend it's like school now. –Moony
Chapter 3
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep. BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP. BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP …
"Shut that thing off Moony!" James yelled over the loud beeping of his alarm clock.
"Not until Sirius wakes up!" Remus yelled back, pointing at Sirius, who was still sleeping.
"Gimme that!" James yelled, grabbing the clock.
He stuck it right next to Sirius's ear and moaned and rolled over, pulling the covers over his head. James moved it closer, until Sirius sat up and picked up the alarm clock, threw it against the wall, and put his head back down on the pillow.
"Wake up Sirius! We have to catch the bus!" Remus said.
"Yeah, or else we won't win that gold…" James added.
After much poking, prodding, ripping of blankets, stealing pillows, pouring icy water, pour boiling water, sticking pencils up noses, and tickling stomachs, Sirius was finally awake.
"God, what time is the bus supposed to come, why so early!" Sirius whined.
"I dunno. It's Muggle school, not magic school," Remus said.
"How come you don't know? Your dad was a muggle. You went to Muggle school. You can help us," Sirius said.
"I only went to primary school. I have no clue about American middle schools," Remus replied .
"Whoa, these clothes are weird," James said, emerging from the bathroom, wearing jeans and a shirt that said 'Etnies'. "You get more air around you wearing cloaks, it's hot!"
They headed out into the kitchen, where the witch who had escorted them was buttering toast.
"Good morning boys. You can make breakfast, there are foods in the refrigerator. Help yourself."
Sirius and James glanced at each other.
"Uh… ma'am? I can't… I can't make toast. Or waffles. Or pancakes. Or anything," Sirius said.
"Call me Ms. Karl boys. You cannot make toast? All you have to do is put it in the toaster oven, it's not terribly difficult."
"Oh but, I always burn it…" James said. "Every time."
"You useless klutzes. I can make toast," Remus interrupted, putting toast into the toaster.
"Thank god you're here Remus. We'd probably be packing our bags right now," James said. "We actually have one smart marauder!"
"We are smart James. We just seem stupid because of all the immature pranks that we pull," Sirius said.
"And our useless arguments."
"That too."
A smell of burning wafted from the toaster.
"Uh… Moony… are you sure you can make toast?" James asked.
"Yeah, I did it all the time at home," Remus said.
"Well something's burning," Sirius said.
Remus hurried into the kitchen.
"Oh great!" he groaned, seeing two charred black pieces of what was supposed to be toast.
"I thought you could make toast!" James said, seeing the toast.
"I can. I think the American toasters are different or something."
"They're all the same Moony."
"I bet I just set the minutes too high. I'll do it again."
Ten burnt toasts later…"Aha! I did it!" Remus said triumphantly, pulling out two perfectly toasted toast breads.
"Finally! I'm starved! And we only have like ten minutes until the bus comes," Sirius whined, grabbing the two pieces of toast.
"Hey! I need to eat too!" James said.
Remus scowled.
"You pigs. What about me? I actually did the work."
"But we starved!"
"You think I'm not hungry?"
"Well…"
"Never mind! I'll just make more!" Remus said, wringing his hands.
Once again, he popped toast into the toaster, and luckily, they were just right.
"Yes! I'm getting the hang of it now!" Remus exclaimed, handing James the plate, then finally making some for himself.
By the time his toast was done, the three of them had to grab their backpacks and run to the bus stop, Remus frantically shoved toast down his throat.
The bus driver had just closed the doors and started the engine, before, panting, the three of them skidded to a stop. Grumpily she opened the door,
"Now don't be late again ya'll! Because next time I ain't lettin' you on!" she shouted.
"Yeah sure," Sirius muttered, as the three of them squeezed into an empty seat.
It was a very quiet ride, partly because of the bus driver hollering and screaming about being quiet and moving people the entire ride, even though the noise was really just a low hum.
At last, the bus turned into a driveway. In another side was a loop of cars.
"Parents dropping off their kids? Every morning? Wow," James said.
"It looks like a really old school. Look, the paint's wearing off," Sirius complained.
"Well what did you expect? Hogwarts?" Remus said.
"I thought it would be… newer," Sirius replied.
Remus rolled his eyes, as the bus driver opened the doors and everyone hopped into the aisle to get out of the bus.
The courtyard was full of students laughing and talking, and other, apparently new children standing around looking nervous and apprehensive.
"Uh… where's 222?" Sirius asked.
"I don't think we're supposed to go until the bell rings, that's what happened at primary school at least. And if we were, why are all these people out here anyway?" Remus said.
"When does the bell ring?" James asked.
Ding! Ding! Ding!A crowd of students began moving into different buildings.
"Now," Sirius said.
They walked into the two-hundred building, and walked down the hall.
"214, 216… 220… aha! 222!" James said, pointing at the door.
Sirius grabbed the doorknob and wrenched it open.
It was really odd. Instead of the usual desks all lined up in a row – there were no desks at all! Only tables put into a circle. The room was decorated with books about China, Chinese laterns hung from the ceiling, and a Chinese fan was pinned to the wall.
The teacher was standing there with red hair and a green dress with flower all over it. She wasn't that tall.
"Take a seat now, take a seat!" she said.
James, Sirius, and Remus sat next to each other staring around.
"Whoa, what's that for?" Sirius asked, pointing at a chalkboard.
"They write stuff on it," Remus replied.
"Why?"
"Because they can't make things appear on the board with magic, blockhead!" James said.
Suddenly, the second bell rung.
"Why do they have bells? Why can't the teachers dismiss us at the right times? It's silly," James said.
"Good morning! I am Mrs. Kaaaaaaaaarvonen. I have schedules for all of you in my hand right now. After the next bell rings, you will go to your first period. The only periods you will be going to now is the first seven. The second seven is for your second semester. I will also assign you planner to write your homework in. I want you to paste your schedule in your assignment book and copy it down in the space provided," she said.
"That's really stupid. Why do we need planners? We can just like… remember our homework," James said.
Just then the another bell rung.
"That tells you to go to your first periods. Good luck!" Mrs. Karvonen said.
With that, the students filed out the door.
"What period do you have James?" Remus asked.
James looked down at his schedule and made a face – "Art!"
"Hey, you wanted to be a visual major. I have language arts," Remus said.
"I do too!" Sirius said excitedly.
"Which teacher?"
"Uh… Mrs. M-kee-ke-he-ran Todd," he said.
"Uh… yeah, I have that teacher too!"
"No fair!" James said.
"Hey, you'll have a class with us eventually. See ya Prongs!" Sirius said, waving him goodbye as he and Remus went off to find 209.
They walked down the hall twice, and could not find it.
"It's all even number rooms down here!" Sirius whined.
"Well, we should try upstairs then," Remus said.
Hurrying up the stairs, they found 209 at their left and hurried in.
"Take your seats guys, take your seats!" the teacher said.
She had blonde hair and huge eyes.
"Sit anywhere you want!"
Sirius and Remus plopped down next to two girls who were talking. One of them had brown hair, green eyes, and was tall. The other was short, had black hair, dark brown eyes, and glasses. They were comparing schedules.
"Hi!" they suddenly said.
"Uh… hi, what's your name?" Remus said, holding out his hand.
"I'm Anne," the brown haired girl said.
"I'm Michelle," the black haired girl said.
"Oh. Well I'm Remus."
"And I'm Sirius."
Suddenly, the girls' eyes popped wide open.
"Your nams are… Remus! And… SIRIUS!"
"Uh… yeah… is there something wrong with that?"
"Oh my gosh, your name is SO awesome. You have to thank your mother for naming you Remus," Anne said.
"Lemme explain. Me and Anne are totally obsessed with the Marauders. Way obsessed. We're thinking of making a Sirius Black Doll, putting it on an altar, then worshipping it. And we write fanfiction too. Plus we write poems," Michelle said.
It was Sirius and Remus's turn to pop their eyes out.
"WHAT! You know about – how did you – how could – what in the - !" Remus spluttered.
"Hey, calm down Remus, the Marauders are from the book Harry Potter," Anne said.
"Harry Potter?" he said weakly, "Ok, I have no clue how you know about us, the Marauders. But I need to know why."
"Yeah, how? Even though I like the fact you will make a doll of me and put it on an altar, don't make it too ugly ok?" Sirius said.
"Hold on a sec… are you like… Remus Lupin? The Remus Lupin?" Michelle asked.
Remus nodded slowly.
"And are you… Sirius Black?" Anne asked.
"Yeah," Sirius said.
Anne and Michelle turned around to stare at each other – and yelled.
"What are you doing here? This is so awesome!" Anne shrieked.
"It is!" Michelle said, grabbing Remus's hand and shaking it.
"Wha?" Sirius asked.
"We're obsessed with the Marauders! We even call each other Moony and Padfoot! And here is the REAL Moony and Padfoot!" Michelle yelled.
"Girls, can you quiet down over there?" the blonde-haired teacher said sweetly.
Anne and Michelle quieted down, but kept whispering to them, on and on about Hogwarts and magic and them and passageways – and even the map. Almost as if they had been stalking them their whole life!
But, they said they got it from some book. Harry Potter series of something.
"Hey – didn't we read that like last summer?" Sirius whispered.
"Uh… Sirius, shouldn't we be paying attention so we can win?"
"Nah, there's nothing important on the first days of school anyway. They all just explain the rules of their class. Not like we're having a test on it," Anne said.
"Right. Ok."
In art…James took a seat next to a girl with blonde hair. A lady was standing around, asking everyone to take their seats.
"Hello!" James said, trying to be friendly, "I'm James. What's your name?"
"I'm Marissa," the girl said, shaking his hand, "Marissa Lou."
"Oh. My last name's Potter."
"Whoa! That's so cool!" Marissa said.
"Uh… what?"
"Your name, it's so cool!"
"Why? It's a really common name. I bet loads of people have the name James."
"No, but you have the name James Potter. Which rocks."
"Uh…"
"You don't read Harry Potter, do you?"
"I think I remember something about it… last summer…"
"Well, I'm obsessed with Harry Potter. No. I'm obsessed with the Marauders, which is this little group in Harry Potter – they rock!"
"Oh. Cool. Wait- WHAT? How'd you know?"
"Know about what?"
"Us! The Marauders!"
"What do you mean – us?"
"Me, Sirius, Remus, and Peter!"
"Hold on – you are the James Potter?"
"Uh…"
"The James Potter who married Lily Evans?"
"Well I've been trying to get her to go on a single date with me for years but – "
"And you're a Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team?"
"Yes but – how did you know?"
"Oh my gosh! This is excellent! Are Remus and Sirius here too?"
"Yeah…"
"Oh my gosh! So cool! I wanna meet Remus!"
"Yeah, but he's in language arts, with Sirius."
"Cool. This is awesome. Why're you guys here?"
"It's a contest. See how long we can survive in an American Muggle school. Sirius entered for the gold. And it'll be fun too."
"Great! How long are you staying?"
"For just a semester."
"So wonderful!"
"Yeah…"
James was sure, he had made a new Muggle friend.
Back to language arts…Suddenly, another bell rung.
"Jeez! They can scare the wits out of someone like that!" Sirius said.
"Yeah, you get used to it here in the U.S. They use bells in like every school to switch classes. So what's next on your schedules?" Michelle asked.
"Uh… Ex-puh Wheel. What the heck is that?" Remus asked.
Michelle shrugged, "No clue. But that's the same class I have next. You have it in Portable 30, right?"
"Yeah. Awesome, where is that?"
"Dunno," Michelle said.
"What's next on your schedule, Sirius?" Anne asked.
"Uh… band," Sirius said.
"Great. That's my next class too."
"Awesomeness!"
"Yes. Let's go!"
"Bye!"
"Bye!"
The four of them headed off to each of their classes.
Back to James...
"What do you have next?" Marissa asked.
"Geography."
"Cool! I do too!"
Shoutouts!
Lily-James14: Thank you very much!
Ilujna: Ok. I'll try updating really fast. But thankies. I don't write as well as Paddy in humor.
ShOrTnSwEeT9013: As said to ilujna, all right, I'll try updating faster. And perhaps I will throw Lily in here. I'll think about it.
Dans-girl-4ever: Oh yes. Many twists. And I will keep writing.
Fire-icecat: Thankies!
IamSiriusgrl: Will do!
Padfoot: Oh. Yes.
Ethuiliel: Of course you can. Just credit me a tiny bit. Thankies for the compliment!
Jersey Princess: Sirius will have his ways for surviving. And Remus only attended primary school. He's clueless to this whole switching classes thing in a Muggle school. Plus add the American style – and he's just as knowledgable at this as Sirius and James.
Sirius-black-sfan: Reviews like these make me happy.
Dragon the evil dictator: Oh, I wonder what'll happen to them too.
Krazy about kac: Oh. Well, I hope you liked it anyhow.