I'm sat behind a tapestry (which has a secret tunnel to the ground floor) waiting for an unsuspecting victim. We were very lucky that Halloween had fallen on a weekend or else we'd probably have needed to miss class to do some of the things we had in store that needed a more human touch.
The week of planning had been the most fun and we'd laughed so hard. Solving a lot of the challenges we came across and figuring out how to pull off our ideas was incredible fun – if not incredibly mentally challenging. I don't think I've ever seen Sirius excited to read books or go to the library but all this week, as soon as class has been over, we've been dragged to our now usual table between the bookshelves out of everyone's view to figure out our plan. There have also been multiple escapades of us sneaking out to get supplies, which was aided amazingly by James' Invisibility Cloak (our faces of pure delight on learning about that titbit was priceless).
We'd been up since 3 setting everything up. There were now little traps all across the castle and nowhere was safe. Things from bats flying out of a suit of armour to potions that make your hair fall out (we ensured to brew up a regrow potion and hide it nearby – not wanting to cause any permanent damage).
Currently, however, my role was to wait for someone and jump out of the tapestry. We'd managed to cast a spell (which I was glad was reversable) over me that basically made it look like I was a rotting corpse – and not like the pictures we'd seen with obvious superficiality. No, I looked dead. My flesh seemed to peel. My eyes looked hollow. My bones seemed to be exposed and you could even see through me in some areas. But I felt just the same. I was still Lyra Black but with a freakish exterior. I even made myself jump when Ash held a mirror up to my face.
It was actually surprising how well acquainted we'd gotten with the castle already. Just this week as we searched for places to trap, I'd already discovered three different passageways while avoiding teachers, prefects or other students. Not to mention the ones that we've discovered before, and the ones that the others found this week. It's a big jump from being totally and utterly lost for my first couple of weeks.
I hear a noise from in front of me and I peak out from my hiding spot; knowing the perfect way to do it to avoid the slightest possibility of being seen. I mean when you've spent your life hiding from your parents – you know how to do it right. Curiosity killed the cat, after all. Before me I see a group or nervous-looking Ravenclaw First-Years. I knew them from my classes and I could tell from their cautious deminers that they'd already run into some of our contraptions.
Now I might love the thought of scaring the wits out of people but I'm not mean. I know boundaries and I don't want to hurt them if they're already feeling tense. So, with a quiet flick of my wand, I stop the prank before them being triggered and let them pass by without jumping out. I have some sense of morality and obliterating people's courage is not on my to do list. And I mean this idea was not meant to really, thoroughly scare people – just get their adrenalin pumping.
It's when I hear another noise that my ears prick up in excitement. I, silently, wave my wand and re-ignite the trap. Waiting, waiting for the perfect chance to strike. My body seems to know the exact moment to jump out and I just stare at the oh-so-familiar trio before me. They stop as soon as they set eyes on my rotting flesh. I stay as still as a statue – not blinking, not breathing; just staring into their eyes. After enough suspense has built, I leap out towards them, screeching. They all scream like they're little girls who've seen a spider as I lunge towards them all avoiding my horrific exterior and running away. Right into our trap.
I know that they've triggered it before I've turned around. Their outraged yells are enough to tell me that they've fallen for it. A think, viscus slime that smells worse than Sirius' bedroom has coated them from head to toe and I gag when the stench hits my nostrils. It's something that Ash thought up and I was incredibly impressed with. Not only did it smell bad and you weren't going to get that rancid smell off of you for weeks, but it also turned you a brilliant glowing, luminescent green like a firefly's rear.
I don't think they knew that yet as they make their dislike to the disgusting substance known; viciously trying to escape its unyielding grasp. And I wasn't going to be there when that happened. With my escape already planned, I headed towards Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to meet with the others to get back into my normal skin. Luckily for me, when I got there Remus was already waiting.
"Thank god you're here!" I say smiling as I approach him, "I don't think I can stay like this for much longer." Despite it not really impacting me, it was a bit weird to be wearing basically someone else's skin and I wasn't overly comfortable with the idea – despite it being physically fine. It was quite a bummer that I couldn't reverse the spell myself, well I could but it probably wouldn't end well as it was a combination of two spells so you needed two people to cast/reverse it simultaneously. It would be so much easier if I were a metamorphmagus! Transfiguration was cool but it was undeniably difficult (it'd taken the week of continual practise to perfect these spells and they were still relatively basic for human transfiguration.
"Yeah, I managed to set the pixie out pretty quickly." That'd been a strange catch. It'd, strangely, been Peter's idea. Apparently, he'd caught one that'd been terrorising his home just before he came to Hogwarts (although from his words I think that it'd been his parents that'd actually caught the thing and he just had it, for some reason?). However, why would we complain when the fiendish creature arrived and was a mischief-making annoyance perfect for today!
"That's good. Who'd you set it on?" I ask, curious on how everything went down.
"Oh, just some older Gryffindors," He says, "They just walked past and they're some of the nicer people in the school; I thought they'd enjoy it." I giggle at the thought of them trying to deal with the devilish thing.
"What'd it do?" I ask, grinning.
"I only saw it dump some water on one of their heads before I had to make my way back here – I didn't want to leave anyone alone." He says smiling back at me. Neither of us can help ourselves as we imagine what could've – or could still be – happening. "What about you?" He asks, "Did Ash's stuff do its magic?"
"Oh my gosh, yes." I giggle, "You'll never guess who just so happened to walk by and screamed like little girls?"
"Who?" He asks, excitement building. He's not a one for pranks but it's clear that my radiating excitement has rubbed onto him. I think that he's also really proud of what me managed to accomplish and the magical achievement makes him more invested.
"A certain group of bothersome Slytherin sixth year." I say nearly jumping for joy.
"Seriously?" He asks, shocked – you got them!
"Yeah, we're lucky that stuff is so difficult to get out of or I don't think I'd be stood here, injury free!" I laugh, remembering their anger-filled faces.
"Talking about you being here, let's get this stuff off you." Remus says readying his wand.
I take mine as well and we simultaneously cast the spells. Immediately I can feel myself returning to my normal skin and within seconds I'm totally normal once more. I move over to the mirrors to triple check that everything is perfect not really wanting to deal with anything that might've gone wrong. I thank Merlin as I see that there are no unfavourable remains from my escapade.
"Glad to be free of that!" I sigh running a hand through my black hair.
"Glad that you're back and don't freak me out every time I look up!" Remus chuckles back.
We stay in the bathroom for a while just chatting and laughing about the small details we remembered while wondering what might be happening to the unsuspecting Hogwarts students. Slowly, the rest of the gang filtered in. As each came, we told them about what had happened – the time this took increasing as it became more and more like the 12 Days of Christmas as our stories piled atop one another. Finally, Peter hurried into the room telling us about how he got caught up with Filch and had to hide before coming down.
With us all gathered and back to normal it was time to get back out into the castle, "We ready to act like we were totally not at all the ingenious masterminds of this?" Sirius asks.
"Ready!" We all chorus, knowing how cheesy it was.
The six of us quickly leave the bathroom and head towards the Great Hall for lunch. To say it was in chaos was a bit of an understatement. People everywhere were covered, coated and very annoyed at our hard work. It was very difficult to stop myself from bursting into laughter at the miserable faces of some and the laughing faces of others. There was nothing that wouldn't disappear eventually, with probably the worst punishment being that of the Slytherin boys doused with Ash's impeccable slime. However, that not being a random occurrence made sure that it got a deserving target – and I think I did a pretty good job at getting the right people.
We decided that because everyone was not sat on their specific house tables (likely to do with the disarray) to all just sit at the Gryffindor table. So, the six of us make our way over. Only to see a very unhappy ginger and a very black Slytherin. As soon as we sat down Lily turned and glared at James. I furrowed my brow in confusion. Lily's hatred of my friend was well-known and it amused me to no end that he was already head-over-heels about her. But this was more than her normal glares.
I look to my friend who has a guilty look behind his glasses, "James, what did you do?" I ask quietly, yet sternly.
"Oh, he didn't tell you." Lily hissed, anger lacing her tone making James wince. I obviously wasn't quiet enough, "Well, I'll tell you what this airheaded toerag did! He decided that it'd be a great idea to dump this ink all over Severus."
Sirius immediately barked out a laugh, which was quickly stifled by Lily's harsh gaze falling on him. "That, was who you got, mate?" Sirius whispered to James still trying to hold back his laughter, "Well done!" It was now that I actually realised that who James had gotten with the ink-balloons (like water balloons but more…staining) had been left out of his story and I could see why. I don't think he wanted us to realise how absolutely seething Lily was about his antics. As soon as he'd laid eyes on the black-haired Slytherin there'd been an immediate dislike. I think it stemmed from his closeness to Lily, and yet also Snape's snarky comments and obvious contempt for James.
I think Lily could see our slight shock and she put the puzzle pieces together, "You were all in on this?" She says quietly, her anger bubbling. None of us say anything, but I think our avoidance gives her the answer, "You did all of this?" She asks gesturing surreptitiously around the room. At least she's not giving us away – I wouldn't want to deal with all the angry Hogwarts students and teachers (and a possible expulsion). We'd tried very hard not to leave any traces of who was behind the madness and James had clearly not been careful enough if Lily'd seen him. He was probably showing off.
The six of us don't comment. But I know that through the slight panic on all of our faces that she knows we're the culprits. Darn that smart ginger! I hear her mutter, "I knew it." As she turns back to her friend.
As soon as she's blanked us all eyes fall, angrily, on James, "How. The. Hell. Did. She. See. You?" I ask, angry at him for getting us caught. It may be only one person, but I didn't trust the girl – and especially Snape – not to spread the news. I really didn't want to get found out because, if the tone in the hall was anything to go by, I didn't want a bunch of angry witches and wizards after me.
"It wasn't my fault…" He spluttered, clearly worried about our negative reactions to the news.
"How was it not your fault?" Ash asks, outrage in her voice, "Did a troll tell on you?"
"Okay, well maybe it was my fault." He says, looking away.
"Really?!" I say under my breath sarcastically (I hear Sirius doing the same and can't help but smile at our similarities).
"What happened?" Remus asks, with a voice that could've been a tired parent trying to control their rambunctious kids.
"Welll…. I sort of maybe might've said take that Slimeball….. When I got a headshot…." He says halfway between laughing and running in fear.
I roll my eyes, "Seriously? You actually said that? THAT is what might get us found out!"
"Yeah… I couldn't help myself." He says running his hands through his hair.
"Oh, James, you absolute idiot." I sigh, "No wonder Lily's so mad at you!"
~ 2,365 words ~
I just came back to check Quotev (because I want nostalgia while I procrastinate) and looking at this fic I realised that I've actually written like three more chapters than I actually published. So it seems to only make sense to publish them because y'know I want to preserve my old writing and for anyone who got invested in this story. I still love it as a story, even as I've slowly found my way out of how deep I was in this fandom. A lot has changed in my life, but most of it is good. I've met so many amazing friends online and in real life. I've found my place in a fandom I love and I finally think I've found who I am on the internet. And I found out that I need glasses yesterday!
I have not reread this since I wrote it and it definitely has *not* been betaed. But I hope you enjoyed!
If you've enjoyed this and are into dream smp/hermitcraft/empires smp and would like to come chat with me you can find me on twitter ( mcytshitposting).