The Marauders were going to hit Umbridge with everything they had. Bludgers, blackmail, the blood quills. Umbridge's threat to Remus has been the last straw.

Lily had spent the last week practicing the summoning charm.

The Marauders had been planning a distraction. Namely, locking a wandless choice person in a locked room with bludgers.

James had made an excuse about going down to the Quidditch Pitch to grab some bludgers, Sirius created the plan, and Peter and Remus found the perfect room and a way to lock it.

They chose the Potions Room. It was dark and windowless with a heavy door.

To get Umbridge there, first they had to lure her. James and Sirius collaboratorated to make a note from "Slughorn" asking her to help him in the Potions Room. They also had to make sure that Slughorn wasn't there. They left him a note saying he was "needed in the Greenhouses."

Sirius wrote the notes and James used the spell he had used when they got the mandrake leaves.

"You have the bludgers?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah," James said, pointing at a shuddering wooden box on the floor. "You're ready to deliver the notes?" he checked.

"Yeah, you guys have the lock?" Sirius checked, turning to Remus and Peter.

Peter up a large brass lock. "It's ready."

"Good. Evans. You can do the summoning?"

"Yes, Black. I've been practicing all week," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "You saw me do it earlier."

"Can you do it fast enough?"

"Alice is good at it, too, she's going to help me out when you guys get back."

"Alice? This is a operation Minnie chose us five for. Not six."

"Well, 'Minnie' never said we couldn't get help," Lily pointed out. "Deal with it, Black."

Sirius gave a huff of annoyance, but objected no further.

"Alright, let's go," Remus said.

Sirius passed them their signature note as they stood and left the Common Room.

James, Peter, and Remus went the Potions Room while Sirius snuck up to the Owlery to send the fake notes.

"So, I put the box of bludgers in the room. You two slide the lock onto the door and when Umbridge comes, I vanish the box but not the bludgers, you slam the door, and we run," James said. "You guys didn't change the plan while I was grabbing the bludgers, right?"

"Exactly," Remus said.

"You have the cloak, right?" Peter checked.

"Yeah, of course," James said.

They had just gotten to the dungeons when they saw Slughorn hurrying off.

"Excuse me, boys, I need to get to the Greenhouses," he said as they passed.

"That was fast," Remus said in surprise. "He usually takes longer in the Owlery, especially when we have to go incognito."

"I think that's the fastest he's ever done," James said.

With Slughorn gone, the bludgers were easy to set up, as was the lock.

The boys hid under the cloak as they heard the click of heels on the stone floor.

Umbridge came around the corner, pulling her cardigan more tightly around her as the chill of the lower lever sunk in. Without any hesitation, she headed to the Potions Room.

The moment she entered the dark classroom, James pulled off the cloak, vanished her wand and the box that the bludgers were in.

Before Umbridge had the chance to look up and see who had done it, the door was slammed. She was locked in a room with eight bludgers.

There was a shriek and a bang; Glass shattered and Umbridge screamed. The bludgers were doing their job.

"Someone will be here soon, come on, stick the note on," Peter urged.

James pulled the note out of his pocket and stuck it to the door with a sticking charm.

"She won't die, will she?" Remus asked.

James shrugged. "Probably not, Someone will find her eventually, probably-"

The sounds of hurried footsteps reached their ears. Someone was coming.

"Let's go," James said.

The boys rushed out of the corridor just as a group of teachers hurried into the hall.

"In the Potions Room," Sprout said. "It must be Horace."

"No, he said he was going to the Greenhouses," McGonagall said.

"I believe I know who's in there," Flitwick said. He pointed to the note.

"Well, that certainly explains a lot," McGonagall said.

"Dolores, is that you?" Sprout called.

The only response was another screech and a booming noise.

"That's her," McGonagall said dryly.

"We'll get you out," Sprout said.

"You sure you want to do that, Ponema?" McGonagall asked. "I have to admit, I see why these Marauders locked her in there."

"I do too, but she's a teacher, and we have to," Flitwick said. "Alohomora."

The lock opened with a soft click and the first bludger burst from the room.

"Let's go, I don't want to be hit," Remus muttered.

The boys pulled on the cloak and snuck back to Gryffindor Tower, where Lily and Alice were waiting with a large stack of white quills.

"We have all of them," Lily said before they could ask.

"Brilliant, thanks," James said. "Where's Sirius?"

"He hasn't come back," Alice said. "Was that not part of the plan?"

"No," James said shortly. "We should go-"

The portrait door opened and Sirius entered the Common Room carrying a plate of biscuits.

"Did you steal from Minnie?" Peter asked.

"No. Remember, she said that the house elves had the recipe for these, hypothetically. So I went and picked some up," Sirius said, setting the plate down on a table. He grabbed a biscuit and took a bite. "So how'd it go?"

"Good. We locked Umbridge in there without any problems. She didn't die, Minnie, Flitwick, and Sprout took care of that," Remus said. "You were really fast with that owl."

"Well, I had motivation," Sirius said, gesturing to the biscuits, "and James wasn't suggesting anything, which helped."

"Hey," James protested.

"Anyway," Lily interrupted, "We have the quills. What are we going to do with them?"

"We need to hide them for a while….Maybe a week?" Remus said. "Somewhere where the teachers won't find them."

"My trunk," Alice offered. "I haven't got much in there and I don't make much trouble, the teachers won't suspect me."

Sirius began to object, but was cut off.

"Brilliant," James said.

"Thanks, Alice," Lily said.

"I'll just run them up there, then," Alice said. With a flick of her wand, the quills levitated and she disappeared into the girls' dormitory.

"Well, we just have to wait now, we'll see if it works tomorrow," Remus said.

At breakfast the next morning, Umbridge was at the staff table, looking quite uncomfortable. Most of her testaments to her fight with the bludgers were gone, but she still had a swollen face.

"I think it worked," Peter decided.

"Of course it did," Sirius said proudly. "Thanks to my skills in selecting owls."

"And thanks to the fact that I got the bludgers," James added.

"Not because of that," Sirius said.

"You guys know that Umbridge wouldn't have been trapped in the room if we hadn't enchanted the lock," Remus pointed out.

"Yes, well-"

"Glad you agree."

In Defense Against the Dark Arts, there was no sign that Umbridge had used the blood quill.

After class, however, the Marauders overheard her talking with McGonagall.

"All of my quills have gone missing. I don't suppose that you would have an extra one?" Umbridge asked.

"Unfortunately not, all of my quills are gone, too," McGonagall replied.

"Really, Minerva?"

"Really, Dolores. If you want you can check my room, but you'll find no quills there."

"They got the quills," James said with a grin. "It's only a matter of time."

By dinner, the whole school knew that none of the teachers had quills. Someone had stolen them.

"Too bad ours weren't stolen, then we couldn't do any homework. I don't know about you, but I could use a break before exams," the Marauders overheard a fourth year say.

"Oh no," Remus said suddenly.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"We have to start studying for exams, they're practically a month away!" Remus said. "I should have been on top of this, we should have started studying a few weeks ago-"

"It's fine, we'll get caught up," James assured him.