Gryffindor Common Room
Harry and Neville returned to the Gryffindor Common Room sometime before Curfew. The common room was almost deserted except for a few older students including Fred and George. The twins noticed them coming in and asked, "Where were you blokes?"
Harry and Neville sat down in a couple of chairs near the fire. The twins joined them.
Neville smirked and said in a low voice, "We just came back from giving Malfoy a taste of his own medicine".
George (or was it Fred) asked, "Meaning?"
Harry answered, "If you fine blokes were to look at the Marauder's Map now, you will find that he is in the Hospital Wing".
Fred asked him suspiciously, "What did the two of you do to him?"
Harry grinned, "It's not so much what we did to him, but rather more what he did to himself. We just sort of, shall we say, gave him an opportunity. If you want the details, you'll have to go and see him for yourself".
The twins eagerly left for the hospital wing the next instant while Harry and Neville decided to turn in for the night. It had been a tiring day indeed.
Classes had begin to settle into a routine. The teachers introduced new things to them as they learned what was taught previously. McGonagall moved on to a new topic after she was sure that everyone could change a matchstick into a needle. The next thing she taught them was how to transfigure a mouse into a snuffbox. She gave them a mouse each and showed them the proper movement, taught the incantation, gave a demonstration and then set them to it.
This time Harry was sitting with Lisa and Corner. They were practicing the incantation under their breath while Harry tried to form an image of a snuffbox in his mind. He had seen many and had liked one. It was circular in shape with intricate designs and the lid was in two portions with one being permanently attached to the rest of the body while the second half attached to the permanent portion by latches. After he had worked out the details, he waved his wand in a precise movement and the mouse transformed into a snuffbox as he had imagined.
McGonagall saw his transfiguration and picked up the box to examine it in detail. After being satisfied with the final product, she proclaimed, "5 points to Gryffindor".
After he was done, he turned to Corner who was still waving his wand, trying to get the desired transfiguration. In a couple more tries, he was successful. Lisa was close and when she had finished Harry started addressing them, "For the prank, either I need to get into your tower or you will have to do it by yourselves".
Lisa asked, "Who else is involved in it Harry?"
"I have a couple of friends in Hufflepuff and in my own house, besides the two of you. I'm leaving Slytherin out of it. It will make it look like they are the perpetrators".
Wednesday morning, during breakfast the owl post started coming in, Harry noticed six large owls flying toward him carrying a package with Hedwig in the lead, carrying a letter in her talons. Harry and Ron, who was sitting beside him, took the package before it fell and relieved the owls of their charge. Hedwig dropped the letter which he opened first before opening the package. It read:
"Dear Mr. Potter-Black,
This is your new Nimbus 2000 which I have ordered for you in the hopes that it will help you score some great victories for Gryffindor. Do not open it right now but take it to your dorm. Oliver Wood will be waiting for you at the Quidditch pitch this evening at 7:00.
Minerva M. McGonagall"
Harry read the letter quickly and slipped it into his robes looking at the staff table where Minerva raised her glass to him subtly. Grinning inwardly he picked up the broom to go to his dorm with Neville and Ron following him. When they were at the Great Stair case, Malfoy flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, blocked their path and stopped them.
Malfoy tried to snatch the package from Harry's hands, "Who sent that to you, Potter-Black?"
Harry was not going to waste too many words on the blond ponce, "Why should I tell you that? When I last checked, you were no friend to me".
Malfoy had guessed that it was a broom and said sneering, "That's a broom. You won't keep it for long. The moment I tell a teacher that you have a broom, it will be confiscated anyway. No first year is allowed to bring their own brooms here".
Ron grinned and said, "That's not just any broom. It is a Nimbus 2000. What do you have at home? A Comet 260, perhaps? Comets are flashy but the Nimbus is in a class by itself".
Malfoy seethed, "You think that's funny? I don't even need to ask what you have, Weasley. Your entire family fortune could not buy the twigs on this broom".
Harry was about to retort when Professor Flitwick came down from the Great Stair Case and squeaked, "I trust you boys are not fighting?"
Malfoy shouted, "Potter-Black has been sent a broom, Professor!"
Flitwick replied, "Yes, the Headmaster told me about the special circumstances. Which broom is it, Mr. Potter-Black?"
"It's a Nimbus 2000 sir", Harry stated with the proud air of ownership.
Ron added, "It's thanks to Malfoy here sir, that Harry made the team".
As Flitwick walked away, Malfoy growled at Harry, "That's it! I challenge you to a Wizard's duel".
Harry replied with an air of absolute indifference, "Very well. I accept your challenge. Neville will be my second. Who will be yours?"
"Crabbe will be my second.", Malfoy replied. "Tomorrow at mid-night in the Trophy Room".
As Malfoy left, Ron started, "It is true that you got on the team because of him".
Harry heard someone behind making noises of disappointment him and turned to find Hermione frowning. "What is the matter, Hermione?"
"Is that your prize for rule breaking?" she asked, pointing at the long, slender package.
Before Ron or Neville could say anything, he started, "Hermione, I did not break any rules at all. I was only retrieving the remembrall which he had picked up and would have destroyed.". They walked away before she could retort.
She kept badgering them all day that they should not break any rules by going to the duel. They were going to lose points for Gryffindor and get detention or expelled.
Harry put up with her ramblings until lunch hour when he finally had to get her to stop, "Hermione, do you even know what a Wizarding duel means? What it signifies? If I did not accept his challenge, it would have impugned my honour. It is a match between equals. To not turn up for a duel after accepting a challenge is as bad as forfeiting it. It is an admission of cowardice and hugely dishonorable. I will go and you are not going to stop me".
History of Magic
In the class for History of Magic that day, Harry had brought a book on defensive magic with him which he was reading while sitting at the back, paying no attention to Binn's droning. He had realized that the ghost would not notice even if a riot were taking place right under his nose. Rather than wasting a period with Binns, he had decided to use it for better purposes. He only paid attention to know what Binns was teaching and then started reading the defensive magic book. Hermione glared at him a few times exasperated that he was not paying attention in class but he was beyond caring now.
He had observed that the Ravenclaws who were sharing the class with him were also reading some books other than History of Magic.
After the class was over, Hermione cornered him, "Harry how could you not pay attention in class? This is not the class in defensive magic".
Harry smirked, "He was teaching about the wizard's council, right? Do you know that the Houses teach these things to their heirs as part of their history? Most of the houses date back to the time of Merlin and the fall of Camelot when the Wizarding Council was established. However, for your own curiosity, Professor Binns does not tell us anything which is not already contained in the book "A History of Magic" written by Bathilda Bagshot who had taken notes earnestly for 7 years when she was a student and wrote that book. We do not even need to hear him to pass this subject".
Hermione riffled through the pages of the book and realized that he was right. To say she was disappointed would be wrong because she looked furious. However furious with whom, it was not clear.
After dinner, Harry arrived at the Quidditch Pitch five minutes before Wood was supposed to be there. He could not wait to fly on his broom. He took off to take a lap around the field and was enjoying flying for 10 minutes when Wood turned up and shot green sparks from his wand, calling him down.
"I can see what McGonagall meant by you being a natural on a broom. With a seeker like you on the team, we are sure to win the cup this year. Now as you have told me that you have been to see some games before, do you know any moves?"
Harry proudly told him that he could do a lot of them with the wronski feint being his favorite. Wood's eyes opened wide in surprise with everything that he told him. "Wow Harry, I did not realize that you are this talented. Practices are Monday and Thursday evenings at 7:00. I will expect you to be here then.". He brought out some golf balls, "Since it is dark and I don't want to lose the snitch, I have some balls here which I will be throwing in all directions. I want you to catch them".
The Trophy Room
The next day was quiet and the classes went on without any incident while he and Draco glared at each other every time their eyes met. Harry knew that the blond ponce was trying to cause trouble for him but he was unfazed.
Harry had been warned during the day by Daphne in a parchment she had managed to send through Neville that Malfoy had been bragging about the duel and that he was not going to turn up for it. Harry had not expected any better of the blond ponce but chose to turn up anyway. He wanted to see what he had cooked up for him and pay him back with interest later.
Hermione had stopped pestering them last night. When Harry told her that he would not change his mind, she had threatened to tell a Prefect which would have been a disaster. So, Harry told her a few hours later that they had dropped the idea of going and returned to their dorm.
When they descended that night to go to the trophy room, they found Hermione was still awake with her nose buried in a fat tome. There was still sometime before it was mid-night, so they decided to wait her out. They knew she could not stay awake that long if she wanted to be fresh for classes the next day. They too were worried about classes the next day but tonight was a matter of honour. There was no way that they were going to let Malfoy get away with smearing Harry's reputation.
After about 30 minutes of waiting, they descended to the common room to find Hermione slumped in her chair in front of the fire. Harry, Ron and Neville soundlessly opened the portrait hole and stepped out.
The Fat lady said drowsily, "You three better watch out. Filch came this way not too long ago".
They did not stop to answer her.
Minutes later, they reached the trophy room where they hid behind one of the cabinets waiting for Draco. Midnight came and went and there was no sign of Draco. Harry decided to let Lord Black know about it and to use the information as he would. As they were about to leave, the care-taker's cat, Mrs. Norris (honestly who picks names like that for a cat) came into the trophy room and Harry knew the caretaker would not be far behind. They heard him shuffling and coming towards the Trophy Room.
Harry mouthed to his friends, "Run!" They took off out of the other door of the trophy room.
They could hear Filch saying, "Smell them, my sweet. They should be here somewhere".
They ran down the stair case not caring if it changed and were running to get away from the caretaker. Harry had not stopped to think where they were going. They ended up near a piece of armour which Harry knew for sure was on the second floor and it meant that they were miles away from the trophy room and Filch.
Just then as if to aggravate their plight, Peeves came floating through the walls and cackled, "Ickle firsties, out of bed in the night. Filch should know about this".
Harry decided to face him calmly, "Peeves you do not need to give us up. We will be back in bed in a moment. No one will know".
Peeves cackled with laughter, "Peevsie will tell. It is for your own good, you know".
As Peeves opened his mouth to say something, Harry shot a jinx at him that Remus had taught him and Peeves was struck dumb as his tongue stuck fast to the top of his mouth. He flew away while clawing at his throat.
Harry turned to the others, "Now let's get out of here before someone else finds us".
Maybe it was just Harry's rotten luck or Filch had made good guesses but soon, they heard the slow meowing sound of the infernal cat, Mrs. Norris and Filch's footsteps right behind her. They started running again, taking the grand stair case all the while being conscious of the fact that Filch was right behind them. They ended up in a dead-end. There was no way out except a door.
"Now I've got you, little blighters. I will punish you", came Filch's voice.
Harry felt cornered. Ron tried to open the door at the end of the corridor but it was locked. Neville pushed him aside and cast 'Alohomora' and the door opened. They disappeared inside just before Filch rounded the corner.
"No worry, my sweet that they escaped. We will make do with others. The night is still young and many will be out of their beds", they heard Filch say and they could hear him walking away, shuffling.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief, "That was close, guys. Let's go back to the tower now".
It was then that Neville noticed a low rumbling in the room. He nervously said, "Umm mates, do you hear what I hear?"
Harry turned to face the middle of the room and what he saw was enough to make him freeze in his tracks. There was a giant monstrous beast in the middle of the corridor. The beast was huge and had three heads like Cerberus the guardian of Hades, the underworld in Greek mythology. It had paws the size of dust-bin lids, eyes full of menace, and slobber drooling from all three of its giant, well fanged mouths. It was standing in the middle of the corridor growling for now, but Harry wasn't willing to bet his life that it would stay still for long.
Harry stared at the beast and whispered to Neville, "Open the door quietly and run. I'll be right behind you. DO NOT USE YOUR WAND or you might enrage the beast. I know Filch might be out there but I would rather take my chances with Filch than a Cerberus any day".
Harry kept his eye contact with the beast and waited while Neville who had found his Gryffindor courage had soundlessly opened the door and dragged Ron out with him. After the others were safely on the other side of the door, Harry took a quick look around the chamber to find what could be the reason to place such a beast in the castle. No one would be insane enough to bring a Cerberus and keep it in a place like this full of children unless they had some good reason. These legendary creatures were natural guardians. It must be guarding something. He could see that the dog had its paws on a trapdoor. Alright, whatever it was guarding was under that trap-door. With a Cerberus guarding, it was safe enough. That would have to do for now. Harry carefully backed out of the room, keeping eye contact with the giant, three-headed creature, until he was able to feel the door-knob at his back. He quickly flipped past the door and closed it behind him. The creature made a lunge at him at the last moment and Harry braced himself against the door. Neville already had his wand out and cast a locking charm. It was a solid door and the beast was unable to make it budge once it was locked again.
After the room was secured, Harry got his bearings and realized that they were on the forbidden floor. "Mates, we must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. We are on the third floor, right corridor exactly where we were not supposed to come".
Neville smiled weakly, "At least we know now what Dumbledore had meant at the opening feast".
Ron asked, "Which bit are you talking about?"
"Remember he had declared 3rd floor, right side to be out of bounds unless one wanted to die a painful death. I think this was it.", said Neville.
"Maybe we should return to the common room and then we can continue our talk. I would hate for us to be caught after such an adventure".
Taking some of the short-cuts that he knew, they all walked up to the common room to find Hermione still slumped in her chair.
Harry told them to go on and nudged Hermione on the shoulder, "Hermione?"
She sleepily said, "Just five more minutes, mom".
Harry chuckled and putting his mouth near her ear, he said loudly, "Hermione! You missed a week's worth of classes!"
Hermione sat bolt upright, "I missed a week's worth of classes? How can I miss classes? Oh God, I am going to fail the exams. My career is going to be ruined".
When she got her bearings and realized she was in the common room, she said grumpily, "What was that all about, Harry?"
"Hermione, it is very late in the night. You will get stiff if you sleep in that chair anymore. You would not be at your best to attend the lectures. You really ought to go to your own bed".
As she went to her dormitory, he nonchalantly walked to his dorm, his mind still engaged in speculating about what might be beneath the trapdoor. While it was worth inspecting, it was not worth losing sleep over it. He figured he could think about it and have some idea as to what it was when he had time for more musings. He slipped into his bed and crashed to sleep promptly.
THE DECREE
The next day, Harry stood in the corridor which led to the dungeons while waiting for the ponce. Soon enough, he was seen coming with his posse of friends. Harry called him, "Malfoy".
He sneered, "You? Here by yourself? Are you looking for a beating, Potter-Black?"
Harry said coolly, "We need to have a word without your cronies around".
Pansy simpered, "I would not let him be alone, Potter-Black".
Harry said snidely, "Suits me fine, if you need a girl to fight your battles Malfoy. Your honour is even more impugned than I initially thought. I imagine Lord Black would have a lot to tell to Lord Malfoy when he writes to him about how his son has forfeited the family honour".
Now that Malfoy understood what Harry was talking about, his family honour, he could not send his cronies away fast enough. Pansy tried to protest, but she was sent away with Crabbe and Goyle. After he was certain that they would not be over-heard, Malfoy asked, "What is it, Potter-Black?"
Harry authoritatively said, "Heir Malfoy, yesterday you challenged me to a Wizard's duel and did not turn up to defend your honour. By your cowardly act, you have forfeited the duel and your honour. What's more, by sending Filch to catch me out of bed, you have compounded your offence. Therefore, in accordance with the traditions of the most ancient and noble houses, you must make reparations of my choice to regain your lost honour. How do you answer?"
Malfoy had a horrible, sick feeling. He had no idea that Potter-black even knew the rules and traditions surrounding wizarding duels. He had only thought to get Harry into detention. His little, childish plot had seriously back-fired and he didn't even want to think what this was going to cost him. he had no idea that Hadrian Potter-Black was sneaky like a Slytherin. He only had two options- either to forfeit his honour as Heir of Malfoy or pay reparations in the form he chose. The choice was simple. "I trust you have the decree with you?"
Harry produced a piece of parchment which said that Malfoy had forfeited a wizard duel to him and was making reparations to him in the form he chose in return of his honour which would have been impugned. Malfoy signed the parchment which Harry pocketed with glee. He was planning to send it to Lord Black who would make some good use of it.
The Dungeons
Today was Potions class again. Harry was in a mood to tangle with the Potions Professor. Dumbledore had not told him yet if he had talked with Snape but Harry was not going to stand by and let him teach in a most unprofessional manner.
When they entered the dungeons, the dungeon bat (the twins told him that was his nick-name) was waiting for them with a stack of books on his table. As they occupied their places, he started talking in his menacing tone, "I have been told that some of you dunderheads had trouble with brewing the simplest of potions for the reason of never having heard about Potions before the previous class. While I had hoped that you were all a little more bright minded than the students who started last year, I have been sorely disappointed. These books give you the introduction to the art of brewing potions while "A Thousand magical herbs and fungi" is a mandatory read for everyone who wants to be a potioneer. For today, you will be learning to take care of your equipment and then you will be trying to brew the cure of boils again. I expect all of you will be able to brew decent potions by the next class".
Harry knew about beginner's potions and had nothing to do for the first half of the class. Most of the rest of the students were diligently shuffling through the pages of the book, taking notes. While others tried to set their work station as the book dictated, Harry had his cauldron sitting on its burner, his ladles cleaned and kept neatly at the side. Harry had wanted charmed ladles because they saved a lot of time. But his potion master who had taught him the basics and a few potions had told him that charmed ladles took the fun out of brewing and sometimes, he needed to work with the ladle so, it was a good choice if he did not use charmed ladles until OWLs at least. He had the ingredients lined up and was chopping them up in exact amounts when Snape skulked up to him, "Potter-Black, what would happen if I were to over boil a potion which was supposed to be cooked on a low fire?".
"It would ruin the potion with no hope of salvaging it. It may also result in an explosion depending on the ingredients and other conditions.", he answered respectfully. He had decided that if the Dungeon Bat did not engage him in banter then he would not start it. As long as Snape was only asking questions which he was expected to know, he was okay.
"What would happen if I were to add porcupine quills to my cauldron before I took it off the fire?"
Harry sighed inwardly knowing Snape would not let him have a moment of peace regardless of what he may do. There was no way he could remain respectful with that attitude.
"You would get a face full of scalding hot steam from the potion and a trip to the infirmary with a melted cauldron as a bonus", Harry answered.
"5 points off Gryffindor, Potter-Black", he roared.
Harry said innocently, "Did I say something wrong Professor? Only a fool would add porcupine quills to a potion while it is still on the fire. For being a fool, they would deserve to have scalding hot potion in their face".
The rest of the lesson went without any further harassment at the hands of the Dungeon bat. Snape made sure that every student knew of the basics to be followed before they started potion brewing and then had them brew the cure for boils. Disappointing him, Hadrian Potter-Black was the first one who was able to successfully brew it though he was not ahead by a wide margin. Draco had been able to finish his brewing a mere a minute or two after him almost at the same time as Hermione Granger.
After the students had handed over their samples, Harry passed a piece of parchment to Daphne when no one was looking. It was for her to meet him in the library that evening after dinner. There were things they needed to discuss with the first being the trapdoor.
The library
As usual, they took a seat at the end of the library when Daphne arrived with Tracy in tow. She sat on a chair beside Harry without looking and then squealed when she realized who was sitting at the table. "Daph, why are we sitting with Hadrian Potter-Black and Neville Longbottom?"
Harry chuckled, "Miss Davis, Hadrian Potter-Black at your service. Daphne is here because she is my friend".
Tracy's mouth was still open in surprise, "When did you two even meet?"
"We have been friends for at least 6 years now, Miss Davis".
Tracy was glaring at her best friend, "You have been friends with Harry freaking Potter and you never thought to let me know? We have been friends since we were toddlers, Daph".
It was Harry who answered, "It was for my protection, Miss Davis. We wanted no one to know my whereabouts so her family was sworn to silence".
"Is that where you went on those holidays when you told me that you were visiting Germany, Italy, Greece and what not?"
Daphne smirked, "Now you are able to connect the dots, Tracy. Yes, we were going to meet him and spend holidays with him and Neville".
Neville who had been silent till then addressed her, "Miss Davis, it is a pleasure to meet you".
They had a good time talking about things in general but there was nothing more that he could say in Tracy's presence. She was a new variable and he did not trust anyone easily. He had passed a parchment to Daphne telling her that they would talk some other time about it since it was of sensitive nature and secrets were meant to be kept and not blurted out.
He also wanted to get to know a few more of the Slytherins because if he did not mingle with them, there was no way that he could have their support. There was also the prank which he had to execute and there was still a lot to do to set it up.
The Prank
The prank was to be executed in two steps. First was obtaining access to the common rooms of the other houses and second was to do what he had planned. The plan was to draw some runes on the entrance of the common rooms which would take effect a little later. Remus had told him about a couple of runes which they used in pranks in their time. Since one could do almost all magic by runes, he had seen fit to teach some of them to Harry i.e. only some symbols and told him what they did. He refused to teach him Runes in detail because he said that if he had taught everything beforehand then Harry would be terribly bored in classes.
The prank involved a timer rune which could be adjusted as per the caster's choice. There were runes in the cluster which would change the appearance or colour of people's skin. Harry did not feel that the prank was something big or momentous but it would announce to the school that they had arrived. The best thing was that the prank could not be countered by a finite and Remus had refused to tell him about how to counter it. When Harry asked him how he could undo it, the marauder smirked and told him that in an hour or two, it would wear off by itself, unless someone else figured out a way to counter it. In the Marauder's time, nobody had managed to figure that out. It was unlikely that anyone had figured out the counter since then.
He had decided that today would be the day and contacted his associates who were to work with him. Sometime after mid-night, he went to the Ravenclaw Tower where Corner and Turpin let him in. There was no portrait on the entrance to the Ravenclaw Tower like the Gryffindor Tower but a bronze door knocker which asked questions when a student desired entrance. On the other side of the entrance, Michael had stunned all the portraits in the common room before he invited Harry inside because Harry had shared the little tidbit with him that the portraits were one way that the Headmaster kept an eye on the students. Harry etched the runes he had learnt from Remus and told Corner to power them after he had left or it would be prematurely activated. There was also an invisibility rune in the collection of runes and on being activated, the entire collection would become invisible meaning no one would be able to find it unless they knew some very advanced detection spells.
In Hufflepuff, he was led into the barrels by Bones and Hannah. Susan welcomed him with a big smile, "How are you Harry?"
"I am fine, Susan. Sorry, but I don't think this is the time for small talk. If anyone saw me in your House Common Room, I would land in detention for a week with Filch for doing nothing".
Hannah said, "She is like that, Harry. You tell me, what are we to do?"
"Have you stunned the portraits as I had asked?"
Susan gave him a wide grin, "Of course. I pretended not to know the stunning spell so I asked Cedric Diggory to teach it to me. Under the pretext of practicing what he had taught me, I have been firing stunners all around the room and stunned every single portrait".
"Brilliant idea, Susan. One might say you are a Slytherin under cover".
She gave him a mysterious half-smile, "you never know what can happen, Harry".
"Harry before you do whatever you have to, would you answer a few questions?" asked Hannah.
"Sure Hannah unless the questions are too personal.", he replied.
"Nothing like that, Harry but I wanted to know if you yourself would fall victim to this prank?"
"Of course I will. I have to show that I am as innocuous and naive as they think me to be", he replied smugly, "There can be no better misdirection than to make people think what you want rather than to let them arrive at different conclusions".
"Are you sure that no one will be caught in this?" Susan asked nervously.
"I don't think so, Susan. We are not using our wands, are we? There will be no magical signature to detect. There is no ghost around to see us. So, unless one of our associates blabbers on us, there is no way they can catch us.", he answered. "I would like to be a portrait on the wall when they are trying to figure out who is behind the prank".
After etching the runes on the inside of the entrance, Harry left telling Susan to tap the runic cluster with her wand. The power rune would draw power from the ley lines under the school and will work for 24 hours then cease to function after that. Since every student had to leave through the entrance of their common room to go to classes, everyone would fall victim to them before breakfast.
Lion's Den
Neville had borrowed Harry's Invisibility Cloak that evening to do his part in the prank. Percy Weasley who was a prefect always lingered in the common room till every student was in bed and so, he would be suspicious if Neville was not in bed by that time.
Neville had donned the invisibility cloak and trotted down to the common room. Without showing so much as the tip of his cherry wand, he stunned all the portraits one by one. After he was sure that they were all done, he started etching the runes as Remus had shown them. Over the years, Remus had grown as fond of him as he was of Harry and always tried to help him every way he could. Remus had taught him many things that Frank would have done, if he had been able. So Neville loved the older man as he would love an uncle.
As he was finished etching the runes, the portrait hole opened and Harry walked in. Neville took the cloak off, grinning, "All done Harry. We just need to tap the runes and it will be finished". He then realized that Harry was panting with exhaustion. "Harry mate, are you alright? Did something happen?"
"I ran into Peeves on the fifth floor. He was angry with me for the langlock and followed me until I got to the portrait of the fat lady, all the while shouting for Filch. I tell you Neville that I will pay him back for this".
Harry tapped the runes with his wand and they climbed to the dormitories without noticing the pearly form of Sir Nicholas who had seen everything that they were doing. The ghost had a sly smile on his face and his eyes were twinkling with amusement.
The next day
The next morning Dumbledore felt like he had gone back nearly 20 years in time which was nonsense because even the best time-turners could not take any one more than 5 hours back in time.
The mayhem had started in the morning when a couple of Ravenclaws who were early birds came to the Great Hall for breakfast. Some of them had greenish tinge to their skin, some had red skin but what was common was that every student was sporting some parts of an animal. Like Cho Chang had the ears of a panda while Marrieta Edgecombe looked like a coyote. The teacher prayed that it was an isolated incident but his hopes were dashed when student started trickling in and almost every student except the Slytherins had fallen victim to some kind of prank. Students were sporting all kinds of animal features with skin colours from every part of the rainbow. Even Dumbledore, who was used to the bizarre now, was amused.
The incident reminded him of the years gone by when James Potter and his associates used to run amok and terrorize the school. This particular prank was especially popular back then but none of the teachers remembered it being used with such magnitude. The Marauders had been caught and punished after Pettigrew ratted them out. He had cracked under the withering glare of Professor McGonagall.
When they graduated, Dumbledore and most of the teachers had breathed a sigh of relief that the biggest pranksters were gone but here it was again in its full glory. He looked around to see the reactions of the students and the staff. The students were bewildered or angry or fearful while a few of them were looking amused or even happy with this. Young Harry was clicking pics of everyone around and of the Great Hall in general.
There was no way for the teachers to find the perpetrators because Dumbledore knew it was the work of planning, co-ordination and precision. To be able to hex everyone and to do it effectively, they would need all of them at the same place which was nearly impossible to do without the teachers knowing. He also guessed that no wands were used to do anything in the prank because using wands would have been the biggest give-away.
He looked around at his colleagues to gauge their reactions. Sprout was looking at everyone so intently that she had forgotten that she had a piece of bacon on her fork as it slid to the table. Babbling was looking with interest perhaps trying to figure out what could have been used to cause this. Aurora did not seem to care and was indulging in her breakfast. Snape was looking at the scene with disbelief and sneering. Dumbledore understood why he would feel so. After all, he had been one of the most frequent victims of this when he was a student. McGonagall was staring at Hadrian Potter-Black intensely. She had perhaps arrived at the same conclusion that Albus had. Hadrian had something to do with the prank but he was not sure exactly what and he also was sure that he was not alone in this. Students from all three houses were complicit in this act. Flitwick was looking at the students amused and perhaps enjoying it a little too much. It was a known fact that Filius loved pranks. Kettleburn was indifferent which was expected because he was not of the sort to bother unless it involved one of his creatures. The students were murmuring and getting impatient and Dumbledore needed to do something about it.
He stood, "As I understand it, three fourths of the school have been made the victims of a prank. Since it is not possible for students to attend classes in this mind-set and make the most of their education, it has been decided that there will be no classes today. You all are to return to your dormitories or go to the library or do as you please. Meanwhile, the teachers will try to find a solution to this predicament of the students. Prefects please join us in the staff room after breakfast".
The Staff Room
The teachers had been joined by the Prefects in the Staff Room. The Head Boy was a seventh year Slytherin named Marcus Silianus. Dumbledore addressed him, "What have you found out about the incident in question, Mr. Silianus?"
"Headmaster from what I have been able to glean after talking with other prefects, the changes happened to the students after they exited their common rooms. This did not happen at once but almost everyone reckons that the changes happened 10 minutes after they exited their common rooms. Some of the prefects went back to their common rooms to ascertain if there was something which had caused the changes but they were able to find nothing. Whoever did it knew a lot of complicated magic. I feel that it is beyond the talents of the prefects to get to the root of the problem".
Dumbledore nodded, "Astute observations, Mr. Silianus. You have already done more than I thought you would have been able to do. I will hear from the prefects now as to whether they have any ideas about how it happened".
The Hufflepuff prefect went first. "Headmaster, from what I have been able to find, it was done according to a careful plan. Whoever was behind it made sure not to leave any traces of their identity. I have asked the Fat Friar if he knew who had caused it but he told me that he was not in the common room last night. None of the portraits which hang in the common room were of any help because someone had stunned them. When I enervated them, they told me that some student had stunned all of them while she was learning the stunning spell". He had seen Cedric teaching Stupify to Susan last night but he knew Susan's family history. In his mind, Susan was the niece of the head of DMLE. It was unthinkable that she would be involved in such pranks. Perhaps, she also did not know that she could stun the portraits. Hell, she was not even able to make the spell work for the first few tries when he was teaching her.
"What is the name of the first year student, Mr. Orpington?"
"Susan Bones, Headmaster".
"You did well, Mr. Orpington. Now I will hear Miss Clearwater's observations about what happened in the Ravenclaw Tower".
"Headmaster, I did not find much difference from what Alderic has already said. The portraits in the Ravenclaw common room were also stunned so they do not remember anything and the Grey Lady has not been around for days. When all the students had retired to their beds, a few first year students were sitting in the Common Room working on their Potions homework. They have reported to have seen or heard nothing.". For Penelope, it was unthinkable that first years would be able to do something which many OWL students could not. She was a Ravenclaw fifth year and she could not even begin to ascertain what had been done to achieve this. Besides, the first years she had mentioned were very sweet and timid. There was no way they could do this.
Dumbledore nodded however he asked, "What were the names of the first year students who were awake after everyone had gone to bed?"
"Michael Corner and Lisa Turpin, Headmaster".
He nodded, "Your report was satisfactory Miss Clearwater. Now, Mr. Weasley what did you find out?"
Percy puffed out his chest proudly, "Headmaster, I did not find anything more than what has already been told here. However I would like to add that there were no students in the Common Room when I went to bed. I did not hear any sort of commotion that warranted any investigation on my part during the night. The first thing that I realized this morning was that every portrait had been stunned. The House Ghost Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Purpington Nick was present in the common room all night and he claims to have seen nothing".
Dumbledore nodded while he inwardly was connecting all the dots together. True it had looked like precision execution at first but after taking together all the details the prefects had managed to unearth, it was clear that the perpetrators had made many mistakes. There were a few links still missing and he was reluctant to put them together. It has been a long time since the castle had seen so much action. Perhaps he would sit back and enjoy these pranks with a bowl of sherbet lemons at his side, of course.
He dismissed the prefects and then started talking to the teachers, "I would like to hear what you all think about it".
Kettleburn started, "It might have been impressive but it was just a prank someone managed. I would admit I am amazed by the magnitude but honestly I do not care a bit about it".
Dumbledore chuckled, "Of course. Anything less in magnitude than the debacle of the dramatization of 'The Fountain of Fair Fortune' would not impress you, Silvanus".
Snape drawled, "I think Hadrian Potter-Black is behind it somehow. This is a trick that his father would have done".
McGonagall snapped, "And what makes you think so, Severus? Do you have any proof to support your claims? How would you explain that he got entrance to the common rooms of other houses? How can you say that he was out of the Common Room when by the admission of the Gryffindor Prefect, every student was in their dormitory by mid-night?"
Dumbledore interrupted them, "Severus and Minerva, please do not banter amongst yourselves. We have to find out who is behind this. However I agree with Minerva, Severus. Mr. Weasley told us that every student was in their bed already by mid-night. Or do you think that he is involved in it?"
That was a rhetorical question because everybody knew that Percy was the last Weasley one would expect to engage in pranks or to lie to teachers. He respected authority like he would respect Merlin.
Flitwick squeaked, "I do not care who did this. It was magic worth seeing and to be able to execute it with such precision is more amazing".
Dumbledore looked at Severus, "So, it is agreed that we will try to find the one behind it however I would warn all of you not to try any unapproved measures in your quest for truth because the repercussions would be devastating".
The prank went on all day long. The prank would have worn off after two hours but the students did not know that it was renewed every time a student passed through the entrance of their common room. So, almost everyone had been cursed at least twice passing through the entrance of their common rooms. The Weasley twins and their friend, Lee Jordan had put their heads together to find out who had pranked 3/4th of the school at once. This was far beyond the magnitude of what they had ever done. Also there was no real hint as to who the perpetrator was. They sorely wished that they still had the Marauder's Map. With it, they would have noticed last night if students were in places where they ought not to be. But Harry had asked for his property back. It was true that they could have refused him but he had proven that he was the heir of the legacy of the Marauders. What was more, he had proven it by communicating with the map amicably.
They had some suspicion that he might have been the one behind it. But then they did not know how he could enter the common rooms of other houses. They had not been able to do it despite being the pranksters in residence for 3 years now. There was no way he could do it. He did not have the knowledge to pull off a prank like that. They were also impressed with how the hex renewed itself when one left their Common Room. They had figured that something had been done to charm the entrances to make the prank work but even after a careful inspection and a lot of effort, they had not been able to find exactly what was done.
Harry had chosen to spend the day outside on the grounds simply because he knew the prank would be renewed every time someone passed through the entrance of their common room. As it was, he expected that McGonagall would be inspecting the Common Room and making inquiries of her own. So would Sprout and Flitwick but not Snape. Snape would not be bothered because his precious snakes had not been affected.
Harry was sitting with his accomplices, discussing the fallout from the pranks. There had been several funny reactions to the prank. They had chosen a spot on the far side of the black lake where nobody could easily see them. As a precaution, Harry employed the device which concealed people's presence from others. They were able to talk freely, without worrying about eavesdroppers or uninvited guests.
Michael was saying, "This was fun Harry. We loved it. What is the next one?"
Susan added, "You should have seen the looks on the faces of the Hufflepuffs. They were baffled, amused, angry and surprised. Some were openly appreciating the ones who did it while others were vowing revenge. We will have to be careful so that we are not caught".
Harry turned to Lisa, "How was that for stirring things up, Lisa?"
She grinned, "You have set the bar very high indeed. It makes me wonder what you will do to top this one".
Hannah added, "Have you thought about your next prank, Harry?"
Harry smiled, "Thinking about the next one already, Hannah? Take a brief rest and enjoy our success before we move on to the next one".
Neville playfully hit him on the shoulder, "Mate, I think you should tell them. The suspense is unnecessary".
Harry mock-sighed, "Since Longbottom is being so pushy, the next trick is for the Serpents. I don't want them to feel left out. Pretty soon the school will have its laugh at them".
"And pray tell what have the serpents done to you?" said Daphne Greengrass who had arrived there with Tracy.
"What are you doing here, Greengrass?", asked Ernie curiously.
She gave him a smirk, "I think I am meeting with my friends".
Lisa said, "Sorry, Greengrass, I do not remember that any of us have been your friend previously. But, you are welcome to join us if you will".
Harry said amusedly, "Oh yes! I do not remember either if we have been friends previously".
Daphne's eyes turned slit like and she was ready to pounce on Harry to beat him to a pulp.
Neville poked him on his shoulder, "Stop messing with her. Do you not know how nasty she can get when her anger is roused?"
Harry raised his hands in surrender, "Sorry, Daphne. I was just jesting around". Then he addressed the others, "Everyone, I trust you know these two ladies, Daphne of House Greengrass and Tracy of House Davis. Daphne is one of my oldest friends with Neville here. She has been around me, harassing me, pestering me for all these years. It was only my Gryffindor courage that I could bear it all and can still call her my friend".
Daphne had enough and started smacking him about the head with her hands while the others laughed. After things had settled, Daphne turned to the group, "So what is your problem with Serpents?"
"Nothing really but most of them look excessively gloomy, pretentious and try to look too dignified. In my opinion, they ought to loosen up a little", Harry replied.
"I would concede that you have a point there Harry but I trust that me and Daphne will be spared from this next trick whatever it may be?" asked Tracy.
"Sorry, Tracey, that would be a bad idea. Snape may turn on you both accusing you of being responsible for it. Why do you think Neville looks like a bull while I have antlers like a stag? Or Lisa is looking like a fox or Michael is looking like an owl for that matter? I do not know if you noticed but none of us have been spared and it kept others from looking at us too closely", Harry calmly replied.
Daphne, looking toward the castle said, "Perhaps your efforts to avoid suspicion have not been as successful as you could have hoped. I can see McGonagall coming this way and she does not look happy".
As the rest of the group followed Daphne's gaze, they saw Professor McGonagall coming their way. Daphne and Tracy made their escape. Harry decided that he would rather face Professor McGonagall now than try to run.
When she came upon them, she observed every student and said, "It is good that I found you all here. Professor Dumbledore wants to see all of you in his office in 10 minutes. The password to his office is 'Sherbet Lemon'".
Harry spent the next ten minutes, making his way to the gargoyle at the end of the second floor hall, trying to figure out where his plan had gone wrong. They had left no wand signatures. None of them had been around when the spells took effect. There were no witnesses. They even fell victim to their own prank to avert suspicion. How could Dumbledore have found out? Somehow, he did. There was nothing to do but to face him now.
Headmaster's Office
As they walked to the Headmaster's office, Harry talked to his friends in an undertone. "I do not know if any of you are adept at Occlumency but Dumbledore can read your mind like an open book. Without casting any spell, he can see the surface thoughts in your mind. You need to avoid making eye contact with him. Concentrate on thinking about one of your classes so that he can't read anything about the prank".
After making their way past the gargoyle and up the moving spiral stairs, they were sitting before Dumbledore. Neville and Harry employed Occlumency. Harry had his favorite Quidditch match playing in the forefront of his mind. Neville was reciting everything he knew about plants, herbs and fungi. The two of them regarded the Headmaster with polite interest while the other four gave their attention to every portrait, book and curious object in the room. Dumbledore surveyed every one of them critically for a long time before he started speaking, "I trust that you all know why you have been summoned here. I have received some information regarding the pranks that were done last night. I daresay that I did not had crucial information to find out who was responsible at first however within the last hour, I have come into some information which points me towards all of you".
Harry asked him, "If I may ask, Headmaster, what is that information?"
He chuckled good-naturedly, "There was a pattern to the pranks, Mr. Potter-Black. For one there were no witnesses. For two, all of the portraits in the Common Rooms of all the houses had been stunned so they saw nothing. For three, there was no house ghost who saw anything otherwise. I was completely befuddled until the prefects started reporting. Miss Penelope told me that Mr. Corner had been seen studying the stunning spell a few days earlier in the common room. As I understand neither Professor Flitwick nor Professor Quirrell have taught it to their first year students so there was no reason for him to be curious about it. Similarly Mr. Orpington reported that Miss Bones had been seen learning the charm from Mr. Diggory. In her enthusiasm to learn the spell, she had stunned all the portraits but not once had her spells found a student. Imagine my surprise when I floo-called Madam Bones and here I will quote her 'I have taught all the basic spells to her, Dumbledore'. I again had to ask myself why she would pretend to not know about it. I received nothing from the portraits in the Gryffindor Common Room so I was flummoxed about who could have done it when help came from an unexpected direction. Peeves, the poltergeist came to me to inform me that Mr. Potter-Black had run into him on the fifth floor sometime around mid-night. I recalled Mr. Weasley had told me that all students were in their beds by 11:00 so obviously his information was wrong. The rest of the story was filled in by the Grey Lady who told me that Hadrian Potter-Black had been welcomed into the Ravenclaw tower by Mr. Corner and Miss Turpin here. From there it was not hard to put the pieces together".
Lisa was looking at him open-mouthed, "You should have been sorted into Ravenclaw for your wits".
Dumbledore chuckled good-naturedly, "Indeed, Miss Turpin, the sorting hat debated this with me but it agreed that I had other qualities which were more prominent and I was well-placed into Gryffindor". He then adopted a serious demeanor, "As you all know, breaking rules is punishable and you all broke too many rules to count last night. I have been asked to hand the punishment to you all for your misdeed and I have decided that 20 points apiece from each of you and detention with your Heads of House for two nights will be sufficient". His eyes twinkled and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth at that moment, "I hope you will be more careful next time and will not leave a rather easy trail to follow. I would hate to see it being curbed. Now you all can go back to the Great Hall for dinner".
As they were leaving, Dumbledore said, "Before I forget, take 5 points each for a prank well executed".
Defense Master's Office
Professor Quirrell was nervous. Things were not going the way he wanted and time was running out. He had been on the trail of Nicholas Flamel and Perenell Flamel for a month. A couple of times, he had almost reached the stone when the old fool meddled with his plans. Dumbledore had removed the stone to another location. When he finally traced it to a high security vault in Gringotts and was able to access it, Dumbledore had already removed the stone earlier that same day. Now he was keeping it directly under his nose. Exactly where, it was not clear.
He had also heard about Wormtail being found in the castle and had been very angry. The treacherous rat had been living with wizards for years in relative comfort and Lord Voldemort was condemned to a wraith like existence. The greatest dark lord was reduced to a wraith which could not even hold a wand and his followers were living as if nothing had happened. None of them had tried to find him all these years.
Lord Voldemort who for the moment had taken residence on his turban remembered the agony he had to go through to remain alive and to heal from the injury which was caused to him at Godric's Hollow. It had taken him years before he could stop feeling the excruciating pain which came to him. In all those moments of unbearable pain, he had cursed the name of the mudblood Lily Potter and her hell spawn of a son- Harry Potter. He also rued the one time that he had shown mercy to one of his minions. He had granted a boon to Severus to spare her life when Severus told him that he fancied her. If only he had not given that boon or cast the killing curse at the boy without killing the mother, he would not have been reduced to this pathetic form where everything he did was a mountainous task in itself.
In order to be mobile and to stay alive in something more substantial than mere existence, he had possessed Nagini. Where she had come from, he did not know. He gave a part of his soul to her for safe-keeping. That had been the second great folly of his life. His soul was already weakened from being broken into pieces far too many times. The strain had very nearly caused him to pass into the near nonexistence where he was neither living nor dead. Not having died but never able to get a body. Nagini had been his final horcrux. To create her, he had to kill a muggle. Killing a muggle was something he considered beneath him but killing him had been onerous and he had almost died. After Nagini, he knew that he could not make another horcrux.
He had no followers either. In this weakened form, he knew that he could not trust any of them to keep him from the ministry. They had spent a decade free from his shackles and they would not willingly return to him. Lucius was a crafty businessman who only looked after his own interests. Barty Crouch Jr. had perished in Azkaban. The few, the faithful, Rookwood, Travers, Rowle, Bellatrix, Dolohov, Rabbastan, Rodolphus were all rotting in Azkaban, rather than living free as lying cowards.
He would reward them when he returned into a body and broke them out of prison but right now, his primary concern was to obtain a body and for that he needed the thrice damned stone.
Another thing on his list was to kill the bane of his existence- Hadrian Potter-Black. The boy had to be killed to cleanse the taint that Lord Voldemort had been vanquished by a child who could not hold a wand. He will give the boy a gruesome death that the world will see but right now, he wanted a body again.
A/N- so this is it for this chapter, folks. I loved your reviews for the last chapter and I await more. I will try to post more quickly for this story now. Please let me know what you think of the story yet.