A/N: I'm back! Sorry about the long pause but the muses are notoriously fickle. I've been busily working on my own stories so my fanfics have been sadly neglected. Anyway, on with the madness!
Disclaimer: Rich? Me? Yeah, right!
Chapter 4 – Howler
'We can't let them get away with this.' Sirius stated, picking at his breakfast with an unusual lack of enthusiasm. The four Marauders looked tired and pale, having spent most of the night clearing up their dorm. The streamers had proved surprisingly hard to shift and they had been unable to get rid of the fiery words at all.
'I know we can't Padfoot, but we don't even know who they are. I mean, had you ever seen them before yesterday?' Remus pointed out.
'And how come they knew about the map? That's top secret, that is!' Peter added indignantly.
'I don't know, but I'm going to find out somehow.' vowed James. 'In the meantime, I have an idea. How does this sound….'
The group began to scheme in low voices, piecing together several dastardly revenge plots. Soon a huge flock of owls swooped into the Great Hall, letters and newspapers tied to their legs.
'Ah, post's here, good.' Remus said, reaching out and catching his copy of The Daily Prophet as the tawny delivery owl dropped it. To Sirius' surprise a large brown owl landed right in his plate of scrambled eggs, spattering them across the table. Sirius wiped his face and picked up his unexpected letter. It was a Howler.
'What did you do to piss your family off this time Padfoot?' James wondered.
'I don't know.' Sirius eyed the distant door longingly. 'Think I can make it?'
'Nah, too late, it's already smoking, look.' James pointed. 'Open it, quick!'
Sirius tore open the red envelope and there was a sudden explosion of noise, but not the high pitched shriek of his mother's voice that Sirius had been expecting. This was the voice of a boy.
'SIRIUS BLACK STILL SLEEPS WITH A TEDDY BEAR!' the Howler yelled out for all of Hogwarts to hear. 'HE CALLS IT FUZZY Mc CUDDLES AND HE WON'T GO TO SLEEP WITHOUT IT!' the words were followed with a peal of deafening laughter before, it's damning message delivered, the envelope tore itself to pieces and burned to ash.
Sirius wished he could throw himself off the Astronomy Tower. He slid as low on the bench as he could, but he could still hear the roars of laughter breaking out around the hall. Students were leaning out of their seats to point at him and stare. Sirius' reputation as the coolest boy in school was in pieces.
James, almost as angry as Sirius on behalf of his best friend, looked about. Not far down the Gryffindor table he spotted Fred and George Weasley, clutching each other for support as they laughed so hard that tears ran down their faces. It was clear who had sent the Howler.
Furious, James rose from his seat, brandished his wand and shouted a curse. 'Stomas Gradilo!'
Instantly the twins gasped and doubled up with stomach cramps. Fred recovered first and roared a reply. 'Ignitium!'
A long flame licked from his wand and hit James in the face. A nasty burn appeared, covering half of his face. James yelled with pain. His friends leapt to his defence and a free-for-all duel began. Students screamed and ran in all directions, fearful of being hit by the powerful hexes. The professors were on their feet, calling angrily for order.
'Cantata!' Remus called. Fred fell to the floor as the long table rocked violently under his feet.
'Gymnasia!' George sent at Peter. His shield charm was just a second too late and he began to cartwheel madly around the hall, knocking fleeing students off their feet as he went. Sirius hexed Fred, whose nose began to swell and bleed spectacularly. Fred hit Sirius with a full-body-bind in revenge and Sirius crashed to the floor. His eyes narrowed in fury and he snarled deep in his throat, but there was nothing he could do.
The fight went on for another minute, with both sides giving as good as they got, but the teachers were struggling towards them.
'George, we have to go! The teachers are coming!' Fred yelled to his brother, ducking a stunner from James. George nodded. 'Obsidia!' he cried.
The hall was plunged into darkness, causing a fresh round of screams. Under cover of the blackness Fred and George ran for it, leaving chaos behind them. They sprinted up the main staircase, taking the marble steps two at a time, and didn't stop running until they reached the Room of Requirement and slammed the heavy door behind them, giddy with adrenaline.
'Duelling at breakfast, I never saw such behaviour! I will be writing to all of your parents to inform them of this serious breach of the rules.' Professor McGonagall snapped, pacing furiously around her office. The Marauders wilted under her glare, wishing they too could have disappeared like the Weasleys. James' face was covered in a thick orange paste which was mending his burn and Peter was so stiff from the unusual exercise of his many cartwheels that he could barely move. 'All of you will receive a week of detention and, despite the fact that you are in my house, forty points each will taken from Gryfindor.'
The boys gaped. One hundred and sixty points from Gryffindor in one go, that had to be a record.
'For your sake, Black, Potter; I hope you fly well in next week's match, Gryffindor need those points. If your misbehaviour means that Ravenclaw win the House Cup again this year I will personally see to it that you are in detention for the rest of your time at Hogwarts. Do you understand me?' she barked.
'Yes Professor.' they mumbled.
'Good. Now get out, you're going to be late for class.'
The Marauders traipsed sullenly out of McGonagall's office, horrified by the number of points they had lost. James restrained himself until they were out of earshot and then let loose.
'Forty points from Gryffindor, each! When I next see those Weasleys I'm going to kill them!'
'You hexed them first.' Remus pointed out miserably.
'Yeah well they deserved it. They're the ones who sent that Howler, I'd bet my broom on it.' James protested.
'And they're gonna pay for that one, you just wait!' Sirius promised, glowering.
Muttering darkly, the Marauders headed for their first lesson of the day.
A/N: So, what do you think? See that little review button? PRESS IT. You know you want to.