MaH chapter 10 of year 4: Stage One: Abbot; Plan B pt1
The map had changed a lot since Peter first showed them his creation. Several passageways were added, including the one under the Whomping Willow (against Remus's wishes.) The Hufflepuff's password was added. Peter had added the Slytherin's password using the same enchantment he used for the Gryffindor's while he was alone; he seemed to like knowing something that they didn't. James and Sirius were so excited they didn't even ask how it was done, they just jumped right into planning a prank (a big one) they called Operation Snake Purge.
Only one name appeared on the map. Albus Dumbledore was usually seen pacing in his office or, like James and Sirius, having a midnight snack in the kitchen. (Thankfully James had his invisibility cloak so they had yet to be caught.) No one else had been added to the map, not even Filch. James asked to add Lily Evans. Peter laughed and called him a perv. No one had seen the map since. That was until Remus suggested they add Phineus Abbot.
Never in all of his 14 years of living did Remus think he'd be arguing with Peter about writing the name Phineas Abbott in a homemade map of Hogwarts. Nor did he think he'd ever call Peter Pettigrew stubborn. He especially did not think he'd be yelling "He could potentially kill everyone, Peter!" to win an argument but, these were dark times.
It seemed to work. Peter's stubbornly set jaw slacked a little. His arms fell from across his chest to the waistband of his jeans. He had previously stuffed the map down his pants when Remus first suggested figuring out Abbott's exact location.
"Only because it's life or death," Peter said, pulling the parchment out of his pants and handing it to Remus. Peter snatched it back quickly. "ONLY Abbot. Not Snivellus. Not James and Sirius. Not even he-who-must-not-be-named himself!"
"Don't be ridiculous Pete," Remus said, kindly. Peter gave him a "threatening" look and finally handed over the map. "I really doubt 'he-who-must-not-be-named' is his real name." Remus grinned at Peter as he moved to the writing desk.
"Ha. Ha." Peter rolled his eyes. He watched him from over his shoulder as he scrawled out Phineus Abbott in the middle of the castle. "You remember the charm?" Peter asked nervously.
"Yes, I do Peter. Don't worry," Remus said, spreading the parchment out carefully over the desk, flattening its creases.
"It's just - if you don't remember it we could wait for Sirius. He did it last time," Peter said.
"Your faith in me is truly reassuring, Peter, thank you," Remus said, brandishing his wand over the parchment. He took a deep breath and blocked Peter's voice out of his head. Steadily and very slowly he moved his wand in a counterclockwise motion over the entire parchment, carefully enunciating the words "hominum locus" causing Abbott's name to fade and disappear. He smiled victoriously at Peter, the enchantment worked. Phineas Abbott reappeared outside of the castle located on the Quidditch field.
"Do you think he's spying on their practice? James is gonna go mental," Peter said.
"We'll soon find out," said Remus storing the map in the pocket of his jumper and they scurried out of their dorm heading back to the library.
Eilidh was already waiting for them outside of the library, sitting against the wall with a book balanced in hand as the other idly twirled her wand between her fingers.
"Anything new?" Remus called, slightly worried that she wasn't waiting inside the library like he said.
"No, Machault doesn't know anything. She said everyone he hangs out with is 'cool' " she said and scrambled to her feet. "Are we ready for Plan B?"
"Yeah, we've just got to go down to the quidditch pitch, I've got a bit of a hunch that he'll be there," Remus told her.
"Just casually chillin' with his partners in crime?" Eilidh said, looking doubtful.
"We do it," Peter shrugged with a sly smile.
"He'll have to see them sooner or later, we go to Hogsmeade tomorrow. He'll want to make sure everyone's ready," Remus said, confidently. He was judging this based solely on the fact that it's what James and Sirius did every time they planned a big prank. Everything was always triple checked the night before. Of course, Abbott was older and probably working for an evil mastermind so, like James and Sirius, he used confidence to mask his doubts.
"Alright," Eilidh nodded and started toward the front door.
Abbott was crouched under the stadium watching the practice through the gaps in the stairs with the Slytherin's Quidditch captain, Johnie Waters. She was meticulously taking notes, her hand barely pausing for a moment as her head shot between the players and her notepad. Abbott watched them practicing with a mild expression on his face and never failed to give his criticism. "Dirk Cresswell must have been dropped on the head as an infant," he would say. Johnie, if she acknowledged his comments at all, would snort or chuckle but she always kept her eyes on the team. Remus wondered how her neck could bear to be in that position for so long. His hurt and he didn't even have to look so far up.
The sun had gone down about an hour ago. The stadium was lit with white fluorescent lights. James was having the time of his life. Sirius was bored out of his mind.
Cresswell had split the team into two which seemed to be Marlene McKinnon's punishment for not practicing all summer. He put her up against James with himself as beater and Sirius (who, despite his boredom, was an excellent keeper.) Marlene had the new beater Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Frank Longbottom as a Keeper (let's just say there's a reason why he was actually a Chaser.) It was cringe-worthy and difficult to watch. Remus doubted that Johnnie Waters was getting anything good out of it, yet every time she looked down she was scribbling furiously on her notepad.
"What do you think she's writing?" Remus asked, interrupting the silence between the three of them for the first time since they left the castle.
"That Marlene never looks over her right, Longbottom's got a weak wrist, probably from breaking it last year, and that Sirius is a lazy sod," Eilidh answered.
"He doesn't like being Keeper," Remus defended.
"Clearly," Eilidh said in an undertone. As much as he hated to admit it, he saw where she was coming from.
Since the game started, Sirius had taken to seeing how many weird positions he could get himself into on his broom without falling off. He started with a simple elbow on the handle, chin resting in hand position, then he was hanging upside down (he almost missed the quaffle three times before Cresswell yelled at him,) and now he was laying on his back, one leg hanging loose the other perked up on his broomstick, both hands folded behind his head.
"He's never going to stop anything that way. OY BLACK!" Eilidh screamed. Remus was not at all surprised that Sirius could hear her. His head shot up and he was actually grinning as he waved at them. "MOVE YOUR ARSE!" And he did, just not in the way she wanted. Instead, he spun around and flew towards them landing gracefully at her side.
"What are you lot doing here? You're supposed to be doing research," he said.
"You're supposed to be guarding the damn posts," Eilidh said, her voice too loud to be considered normal conversation though she was not yelling… yet.
"You're supposed to be gathering intel," Sirius returned. "What are you doing anyway?"
"Completely wasting our time," Peter sighed moodily. He was sprawled out, on the other side of Remus with his arm thrown over his eyes, trying to block out the light.
"We are spying," Remus said.
"Yes, the Slytherins are paying us. Seems we've completely lost our self-respect and morals," Eilidh said pointedly and inclined her head in the slightest bit, moving Sirius's attention to where Abbott was under the stairs now watching them instead of the team. Sirius's eyes flickered and he grinned.
"Is she one of them?" he whispered.
"Don't think so and she said he was only talking to boys so it's not likely," Eilidh answered in a low voice. "You need to get back out there! Cresswell's gonna kick you off the team if you keep acting like this!"
"I haven't missed a Quaffle yet, don't get your knickers in a twist," Sirius said then continued in a whisper, "So what're you doing here? What did you find out?"
"Nothing, except he's got a girlfriend outside of Hogwarts, which is obviously not serious considering how close his hand is to her arse," Eilidh whispered back. Remus was starting to get nervous. Abbott had whispered something to Johnie. She took a quickly glance over her shoulder then turned back to the game, apparently uninterested. Abbott, however, still watched them intently.
"So you're tailing him?" Sirius whispered and Eilidh nodded.
"Sirius, you really should get back out there," Remus said in a loud voice.
"He's right. And stop messing around! You've got a responsibility to the team and the house, so don't muck it up," Eilidh said, pushing him a little.
"I'd like to see you get out there and do it without getting bored," Sirius snorted.
"From what I've seen I could fly circles around you," Eilidh said, haughtily.
"SIRIUS ORION BLACK! IF YOU DON'T GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW I WILL MAKE SURE EVERYONE IN THE SCHOOL KNOWS ABOUT YOUR RAINBOW PANTS!" James yelled, chasing Marlene at top speed. Sirius didn't waste a second more. He jumped on his broom, flew as quick as he could but instead of cutting in front of Marlene, he cut in front of James. Marlene, with a smug grin, continued forward and threw the quaffle through one of the hoops. James pushed Sirius back in front of the posts and gave him the finger before diving for the quaffle. He tossed it to Sirius who tossed it back, setting it back into play, and flew to the other end of the field, raising higher as he went. He curved toward the stadium and soon he was directly overhead. Remus assumed he was dodging Marlene's advances. Then James did something that was completely un-James-like. He dropped the quaffle. Marlene dived for it and, instead of diving out in front of her, he circled her seeming to want to slow her down or throw her off course.
This all made sense though when the quaffle landed directly on the step Abbott and Johnnie were hiding under. Johnnie screamed. Abbott started and hit his head. Then they scrambled over each other, trying to beat each other out from under the stadium. By the time the quaffle was rolling on the grass the were out and running back to the castle.
"Hey, Captain!" Sirius called, distracting Cresswell's attention from Kingsley Shacklebolt. "A couple of snakes were spying on our practice!" Sirius pointed to Abbott and Johnnie's fading forms. Cresswell turn following his direction spotted the pair and flew forward in a blur bring the rest of the team with him.
Peter was on his feet before Remus could even register what was bound to happen. All three of them ran down the stadium's steps, across the field, and just barely met the team as Marlene was pushing Cresswell out of the way.
"I'll do it if you refuse to hex a girl!" she spat dangerously holding the tip of her wand to Johnie's throat, her free hand pulled on Johnie's wrist holding her still. James, Sirius, and Frank held Abbott at wand point, his wand had been thrown somewhere to the left of him.
"McKinnon stand down!" Cresswell ordered, one hand reached out for Marlene the other was placed firmly on Kingsley's chest. Marlene made no move to do as Cresswell asked. "Marlene, you'll have extra laps for a month if you don't let her go!"
Marlene, with a moment's hesitation, released her hold on Johnie's wrist and slowly stepped away from her, her wand still pointing to her throat.
"Thank you," Cresswell said as she fell to his side. "The rest of you, let Abbott go. He's not even on the Quidditch team."
"Dirk are you daft?!" Frank said in disbelief.
"Cresswell, we can't just let him go!" James protested.
"Yes we can and we will if any of us want to play Quidditch," Cresswell said firmly. At the threat James and Frank, reluctantly, lowered their wands. Sirius, however, kept his on Abbott's chest.
"He really doesn't give a damn about Quidditch," Eilidh muttered.
"Black," Cresswell said, trying to sound firm but it came out more like a plea. James nudged Sirius in the ribs and only then did he lower his wand and pushed Abbott away with enough force to send him stumbling and almost falling backward. For a second it seemed as if he would stay, but eyes flickered from the back of Johnie's head to Cresswell's eye, and he turned to leave, fetching his wand along the way.
"Johnie, what are you doing here?" Cresswell asked as if Johnie had merely been caught in the wrong toilet.
"Just came to see an old friend play, Dirk," Johnie said smoothly.
"'Old friend'?" Peter muttered. Remus shrugged.
"Right, taking notes on his performance," James said, hotly.
Johnie smiled, a humorless smile and made no remark but Remus noticed that she held her hand firmly over her left pocket as if trying to stop something from falling out. Her fingers curled around whatever was inside and she flashed narrow eyes directly onto Eilidh.
Eilidh had her wand out and pointed to Johnie's pocket. She paused when Johnie looked at her, smiled toothily, and said loudly and plainly, "Accio notebook!" The notebook flew through Johnie's clutches and into Eilidh's waiting hands. Johnie's vehement exclamation and insults for Eilidh went ignored as she opened the notebook.
'Captain fails to control team,' she read out loud, 'especially new members- Black #9, keeper and #3, beater - that's Shacklebolt. Seeker not at practice. #5, chaser - that's Marlene - unobservant, right. Potter#4 - chaser, overconfident. #6 chaser - Frank - weak wrist. Black #9 - is a lazy sod."
"It does not say that!" Sirius interrupted, heatedly.
"It basically does!" Eilidh yelled back.
"Enough!" Cresswell said, silencing them both.
"Yes, sir. You'll be wanting this, reckon you'll find it useful," Eilidh said, handing the notebook to Cresswell.
"Thanks. Johnie, I'm sorry but I'll be seeing Slughorn about this," Cresswell said, turning back to Johnie who, throughout the whole ordeal, was quite expressionless.
"Of course you will," Johnie said and tossed her head and strode away. Cresswell sighed heavily and waited until Johnie was well enough away before beckoning his team closer.
"Can you believe her?" James started, staring venomously at Johnie's small receding form.
"She's a gutless snake but she's right," Eilidh said.
"You think I'm overconfident!" James said, indignantly.
"Why not, she thinks I'm a lazy sod," Sirius added.
"Enough!" Cresswell ordered. "You, you're not on the team so you can shut it," he told Eilidh. "It was a good practice, better than I was expecting. We'll talk more about it on Sunday - don't forget it's an early morning practice. Alright, Frank, you were late so you can stay and help me clean up. The rest of you have a good time a Hogsmeade and don't forget nothing stronger than butterbeer."
"Sure, Cresswell," James smirked, probably remembering when he found him half drunk on firewhiskey last term.
"Get out of here and shower for the love of God, you all smell like trolls!" Cresswell laughed.
***DorthyNightingale thank you! Please do keep reading! and I hope you continue to like it. :) XO
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***In case you didn't notice, this only part 1 of 2 of Remus's brilliant plan B. I'll try to have part 2 up quickly but no promises.
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