Whoever said that the ultimate pranksters in Hogwarts history were the Marauders...they were partially mistaken. There were many other groups throughout the years who became pranking masters. Several of note were the Founders, with Hufflepuff being directly responsible for 'The Floor is Laughter,' and the unknown instigator of the Great Gobstone War of 1873. Pranking was almost a culture, a tradition some might say, within the mighty walls of Hogwarts.

With this knowledge, a lot of the students were slightly on edge. It was March of 1988 and the last major prank was over two months ago. With every day, the atmosphere became stifling, overflowing with tension, apprehension and the slightest hint of anticipation. Even the slightest movement out of the ordinary made them jump. The stairs moved the left instead of right? Students sprinting in the other direction? The password to the common room changed abruptly? Students camped out in the halls. The podium of a professor shifted a quarter of an inch to the right? Everyone was on the look for the culprit.

But these were only precursors. See, the magic of Hogwarts was difficult to explain. Not quite just a castle, but not sentient like mirrors or cars became when they were enchanted. The best way to explain it would be to say that Hogwarts, over the years, gained a very distinctive personality. Often things disappeared, corridors would suddenly go in the opposite direction and paintings switched locations. Because of this, mischief was something Hogwarts could sense and it loved to help out.

In this case, the castle knew that four students, two from Hufflepuff, one from Ravenclaw and the last from Gryffindor, were planning something huge. Something that would be remembered for years to come as one of the best pranks. All four of the students were in the top half of the classes, not necessarily close friends, but close enough to know the traits of the others.

While they were planning and in the first stages of their preparations, which were taking over a month due to the extremely finicky nature of the prank, Hogwarts decided to get in on the action. Seeing frazzled students reacting in this way was hilarious to the castle and even better for the students planning the prank, as all attention was off of them. This was perfect, as the prank was drawing ever closer.

"Today is the day," the first crowed. She was short, with not much neck and stubby fingers. The second, impossibly tall and bulky, rapidly shushed her.

"Don't go shouting it about like a banshee, Hazel, anyone could hear."

"Kai, you really believe that?" chimed in the third, her voice raspy and long hair pulled back into a braid.

"I'm sure he does, Maria." The fourth, with her dark eyes and gleaming teeth, grinned.

"Merlin's beard, would you guys stop? I'm allowed to be excited, Janea." lamented Hazel. The fourth grinned even wider. "Today a months worth of work is coming together."

"Two months, actually, you're not counting the time we took to gather the ingredients. Well, the time I took to get the—"

"Janea, we get it, you're the best at stealth," Kai sighed. "Now shhh, this is the most important part." He glanced up at the gabled window, moonlight streaming through. Five hours to go. Being up at three on a Saturday morning wasn't the most sensible idea. This part of the castle, near the kitchen, was always crawling with professors just itching to catch a student out of bed.

Hazel grunted, hefting the cauldron up higher so it didn't drop to the ground. "I wish feather-light charms were compatible with potions, this is a pain. Why can't Kai carry this?"

"He's already doing that, there are two cauldrons, Hazel." Maria covered her mouth as she giggled. "We all know that you like him, with his big arms and—"

"No!" shrieked Hazel. She turned to Kai. "That's not true. It isn't." As she said this, a flaming blush spread over her cheeks like wildfire. Kai chuckled, already very aware of this fact. It was common knowledge among the seventh years at Hogwarts, along with her vehement denial of that fact.

"Let's just stay quiet," hissed Janea. "There could be teachers anywhere, and we don't want to wake up the paintings. The kitchens are just down a few flights of stairs and around the corner. Don't blow it now."

"Ever the mother, aren't you?" Maria pulled her dark robes closer around her. The colourful house patches on each of their robes (yellow for Hazel and Kai, Blue for Maria and red for Janea) were covered to avoid them being identified by their robes if someone saw them from a distance.

"I have to be with you three around, don't I?"

"Oi!"

"Shhhhh!"

The bickering continued down three flights of stairs and around five corners until they reached a basement corridor decorated with splendiferous portraits of fruit and lit by the flickering light of torches.

"Okay, we're here. Maria?" said Kai. Maria, being the tallest one of the group who wasn't carrying a cauldron, reached up and tickled the pear. It jumped around slightly before the painting swing open with a creak to reveal a large archway leading into the well-lit, bustling, gargantuan kitchens of Hogwarts. House-elves scampered around, carrying trays of food and chattering to each other. No one seemed to notice the students staring in awe at the kitchen (save for Janea) in the doorway.

"Follow me," said Janea excitedly, gesturing for the others to follow. "No need to be quiet now. The house-elves love a good bit of mischief if it doesn't interfere directly with their job. They'll be all over this."

"I believe you, you've said that so many times." Kai entered second, waiting for a house-elf to tell him where to put the cauldron down. One soon scampered over, nervously wringing her hands.

"Is yous wanting to put the cauldrons down, sirs and madames?"

"That would be lovely, thank you," said Janea. "Could you be very careful with it? The contents are precious."

"Of course, madame! Anything for someone so kind!" A small army of house-elves rushed forward, taking the cauldrons and placing them gently on a bench. The four stepped back, satisfied with their work.

"Now, there are a very specific set of instructions we need you to follow," instructed Maria. "What we need you to do is…."

Saturday morning rose bright and early. Students of Hogwarts blearily stumbled into the Great Hall, absentmindedly going about their business. Chatter filled the air, all topics and conversation game. The enchanted ceiling was a happy blue, the odd fluffy cloud drifting lazily across the expanse

Hazel, Kai, Maria and Janea ate their breakfast as normal, shooting anxious glances around them as the hall slowly filled up. Their prank was dependent on their peers drinking the goblets laid out in front of them, a deliciously sweet pumpkin juice. Hopefully, the sweetness of it would distract from the vile taste contained within.

If everything went well, Hogwarts would be in pandemonium in exactly twenty minutes.

Maria slowly drank hers, which was the signal for the others to do the same. They were sitting strategically so that they could see each other. This wasn't the extent of their cunning. Their cups were laced with the same substance as everyone else. It would be extremely difficult to catch them, that's for sure.

Delighted cries went up as the sweetness was discovered. The four tamped down smirks and continued as if everything was normal. The teachers didn't notice anything out of the ordinary (Snape's usual glowering at any house other than Slytherin didn't count) and it would hopefully stay that way. Inside their heads, a clock began ticking when the five-minute mark came.

Four. Feet began tapping in agitation, the chatter seemingly growing in volume.

Three. The last of the student body trickling in and eating their food, gulping down the 'special' pumpkin juice.

Two. Their stomachs bubbling as it began to take effect, an uncomfortable tingling covering their bodies. Other students started murmuring in discomfort, the noise slowly building.

One. Skin started shifting like something was crawling around under it. Uncomfortable sensations covered everyone (including the teachers). Startled cries, frantic footsteps, people tripping over each other with reckless abandonment.

Go.

Horrified screams sounded as people realised the next prank had been played. Many were trying to convince themselves that this wasn't real, while a small select few were laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of what was happening. One person, in particular, was giving the entire student population a death glare. If looks could kill everyone would be dead. But, there was just reason for this one person to be disgruntled.

For almost everyone in the Great Hall now resembled Snape.

Greasy hair hung down around sallow faces, sharp dark eyes glaring down oversized hooked noses. Hundreds of students were flapping their robes, which had been transfigured to resemble the bat-like robes of Snape. The teachers were included in this, causing their table to look like someone went ham on the copy-paste function. By far the most abnormal part of this phenomenon was hearing Snape's voice, so often dripping with disdain and hatred, laughing and happy.

Maria gave a victorious thumbs up to the rest of her groups, a blink and miss it motion. Being caught was, surprisingly, not on their to do list. Spiking their own drinks was their way of disguising the real culprits. With all of their careful preparation, especially thanks to Maria, it was virtually impossible to tell who did it.

The cacophony was shut off abruptly by several fireworks blasting off in the air. Multicoloured light bathed the hall as they crackled and popped. Dumbledore, or who they assumed was Dumbledore, lowered his wand and spoke in a booming voice that wasn't his own:

"It seems that we have been struck again. I must advise you to go about as normal. This is due to Polyjuice Potion, so it should wear off in an hour." Janea stifled a snigger. That wasn't true here. "Enjoy your day and may this go down as one of the greatest pranks in Hogwarts history. Don't you agree, Severus?"

He glared at Dumbledore. "I will not dignify that with a reply."

"Please," continued Dumbledore, "finish your breakfast. We will catch who did this. That's me for now."

In the hubbub, Hazel, Kai and Maria slipped over to the Gryffindor table, sitting down next to Janea.

"It worked, I can't believe it," crowed Hazel.

Maria hastily shushed her. "Have you ever heard of tact, Haze? Shhhhhh, not here."

"The next hours are going to be glorious," sighed Janea. She was usually a stickler for the rules, but pranks like this were the exception. Especially when her obscure potions knowledge, thanks to her entrepreneurial grandmother, came to good use. For example: expanding the length of time that Polyjuice Potion was in effect for with ingredients sounding ridiculous even to Witches and Wizards.

Number four done! I'm also sneaking in little Easter Eggs to other shows, to be on the lookout for those.

My answer to the last chapter's question: I would have pyrokinesis. I love fire so much and there's so much you can do with it. If it wasn't that, it would probably be the ability to fly, with visible wings. Always loved that.

Question of the chapter: What's your favourite food and why?

Sincerely,
Mariadoria

:)