Disclaimer - Usual.
Chapter 71
"Okay, let's just say we get the egg. Where are we going to hide it this time?" Morgan, a Gryffindor seventh-year, asked.
The house was holding a meeting to strategize about the egg project. The competition was still very much alive and there were no solid leaders yet.
James leaned over and whispered to Remus, "What about the Room?"
"I don't know…" he whispered back uncertainly.
"What are you whispering?" Morgan asked. He had become the unofficial team leader for the project.
James and Remus looked at each other uncertainly. "How many of you have heard about The Room of Requirement?" James asked tentatively. Most of the attending students looked at James blankly. "What if I told you there is a room in the castle that, whatever you need, it can provide – including a safe place to hide the egg."
"But what if someone else found the room?" one of the other students asked.
"The room appears however you need it. So unless that person specifically wants to find the egg… he won't," Remus answered.
"And even then, we're not really sure what would happen if the room is given opposing wishes."
"But surely other people from other houses know about the room. I didn't know its name, but I think I've come across the room," Lily pointed out. James gave her an admiring glance.
Sirius spoke up, breaking his reverie. "There are, but, again… unless they specifically ask to find the egg, they won't. And even then, we're not sure what would happen – not if we order the room to keep the egg hidden."
Another Gryffindor spoke up. "But what about guards? If we post guards on the door, surely people are going to figure out where it is."
"We don't have to," Peter stated. When everyone turned to look at him, he shrank back slightly at all the attention.
"Wormtail's right," Sirius picked up. "Let's just say we have a way of knowing who's by the room without actually being there. Besides, the silent alarms worked before."
"And what exactly is this 'way' you're talking about?" It wasn't that Morgan didn't believe these fifth-years. He knew well of their reputation, but he was competitive and wanted to win. "You are asking us to put a lot of faith in you, your room, and your mysterious surveillance technique."
The Marauders exchanged looks. James nodded and stood up. "Will you come with me?" Morgan looked at him curiously, but agreed to follow. James took him to their dorm room and showed him the Marauders' Map, being sure to whisper the passwords so Morgan wouldn't hear them.
Morgan stared in wonder at the map, then at James, then back at the map. "Wicked!" he said in an awed voice.
They returned to the common room, where soft murmuring had broken out, but immediately ceased at the young men's return.
"We've got surveillance," Morgan grinned. "Is that how you knew they were coming last time?" James nodded and smiled. Morgan shook his head in wonder. As James took a seat with his friends, Morgan continued, "So… what do we think about the use of the room?"
"I definitely think we'll need the additional protective measures, like the silent alarms we used before," Remus responded.
"Right. Okay, Byron, pick a team for the egg's defense."
Byron, another seventh-year, nodded. He was probably the most intelligent seventh-year Gryffindor had, and he was very good at listening, taking suggestions, and delegating.
"Now," Morgan continued, "I understand Peter has some intel for us."
Peter nodded tentatively and was given an encouraging nudge by Remus. "I know where Hufflepuff is keeping the egg. I also know at least some of the spells guarding it. I'm sure it's not a complete list, but it's a start." Morgan nodded for him to continue and Peter briefed the rest of the house on the information he had.
Once Peter had shared all of his information, Morgan asked Byron if he had chosen his team yet. The entire house would help during both stealing and defending the egg, but their primary focus would be one or the other. Byron nodded and read off the list of names he had decided on during the briefing. The students he chose were known to be quick-witted and think well on their feet. It wasn't important to be super-smart, he figured, as long as they could react and attack well. He left the planners for the team that was going to steal the egg.
Morgan was initially upset that he had most of the first and second-year students, but Sirius made a joke about them being used as canon fodder, and he realized how important that task really was. When one didn't know the defenses being used, one needed a way to find out what they were. Byron had also left him a few of the smartest students. The assault might take more than one attempt, and students who could do research were important.
This meant that Remus and Lily were on the team that was going to steal the egg. Peter was also on that team since intel changed frequently and any updates he could find would help their chance of success. Patty, Jules and Johnson were with them. The attack was scheduled to start first thing in the morning. A week into the project, a new rule had been added. Since it was against the rules to wander the halls at night, the students were told that night raiding would cost points for the team as well as give them a holding penalty, which took time off the clock. Since one of the ways to earn points was to hold onto the egg the longest, this was a rather effective deterrent.
Sirius, James and Gillette were on the defense along with Stacey, Addison and Leena. Most of the quidditch team was on defense, since they were used to reacting quickly. Byron and James gave quick lessons on some of the more effective blocking and stunning spells to the younger students to help them be ready.
At five the next morning, the fifth-year dorm erupted with noise. Sirius was frantically trying to wake everyone, including Peter. When his first attempt at waking the others only succeeded in getting Remus to sit up and Addison to curse at him, he set off a noisemaker and threw some of Addison's mum's cookies, pegging the sleeping teens in their beds. It took less than a minute to get everyone up, including Peter.
"What! is going on?" Addison yelled, his ears still ringing from the noisemaker going off in confined quarters.
"Slytherin!" Sirius yelled back, gathering cloaks and throwing them at his bewildered dormmates.
Remus was the first to catch on and grabbed his shoes too.
"Slytherin is going for the egg. Now!" This statement got the others moving.
James darted out the door, calling over his shoulder, "I'm getting Morgan."
"Wormtail, you get the first-years," Sirius commanded. "Addison…"
Addison was already on his way. Nodding he said, "Right. Second-years."
"Moony, you get…"
"The girls."
"What? How are you going…?"
"Just get the third years!" Remus commanded back as he pinned his prefects badge to his chest. "Go!"
In just five minutes, most of the older students were gathered in the common room. It was rather a sight to see. They all seemed to be half-way between maniacally awake and still sleeping. Most of them stayed in their pajamas and simply slipped their school robes over those. Several were not wearing shoes, and almost all of the girls were sporting untidy ponytails.
Morgan quickly took control. "Right. Team, let's go. You others – we're going to need you to run interference with Slytherin. Uh… Gudgeon, stay behind and gather up the stragglers. Bring them to where the egg is being kept."
"Wait. Wait!" Sirius insisted. "May I offer a suggestion?" Morgan huffed slightly in impatience but nodded for him to continue. "Let Slytherin get it."
"What?!" someone in the crowd shouted indignantly.
"No, listen. Let Slytherin get the egg. That gives us plenty of time to surround them quietly and get into a good position. Slytherin does all the work of getting past Hufflepuff's defenses, they get the egg, and we ambush them on the way to wherever they were going to take it. Aside from some dueling, it's easy pickings."
Byron whispered something to Morgan, who listened intently. "Very good. How do we proceed?"
"Wormtail," Sirius waved Peter forward. "Does anyone have a scroll and quill?" One of the girls ran to her dorm and retrieved the items for Sirius. A circle formed around one of the larger tables as the Marauders, Morgan, and Byron bent over the scroll. "Wormtail, draw out a map of the area surrounding the egg."
As Peter drew, the other five teens strategized about who to put where. There were secret tunnels and various nooks and crannies that would hide people, not to mention classrooms that could be used to hold several students at once. A net was nicely drawn up around the area. A signal was set so that everyone would know what direction Slytherin headed off in once they had they egg. They thought of a few simple traps that could be set up quickly and quietly. Some of the younger students would run interference with teachers, other students and Peeves, should it be necessary. It was a good thing Gryffindor was known for its bravery. Most of the students had not dueled outside of the Dueling Club and away from the club's rules for safety, and none of them were so naïve as to think Slytherin would duel fairly.
As they quickly stole to their hiding places, Remus looked over the map. "You know… This isn't all the Slytherins."
Sirius glanced at him. "I know," he said in a quiet voice. "I just don't know if they have a signal to get reinforcements, or if the others will head in the direction of the egg later, to help them return."
"Pads and I can split up. I'll stick with you, Moony. That way, if we see more Slytherins coming, I can signal Pads." James patted his pocket where he normally kept his mirror. Byron was listening to the Marauders talk and he nodded his approval of their plan.
It took nearly an hour for the Slytherins to get the egg and, by this time, over half of the Hufflepuffs had arrived on the scene to help defend the egg. James contacted Sirius to tell him that more Slytherins were already on their way, but it was agreed that, until the Slytherins had firm control of the egg, the Gryffindors would sit and wait. Let the Hufflepuffs eliminate as many Slytherins as possible before Gryffindor stepped in. Plus there would be fewer Hufflepuffs to deal with.
After another fifteen minutes of intense fighting, the Slytherins won decisively – in part due to their use of curses and hexes that Hufflepuff would never use. The Gryffindors shadowed Slytherin, using the tunnels and interconnected classrooms, until they were far enough away that any new Hufflepuff arrivals wouldn't know where they had gone.
Sirius, Morgan, Addison and Lily were the first to strike. They snuck up behind the Slytherins and cast spells from behind. They began taking out a couple of stragglers without the rest of the Slytherins knowing they were there. But with their third attack, they were noticed and the alarm was sent up. It was then that more Gryffindors appeared all around the Slytherins, attacking from all directions. Flashes of white, blue, red, purple and orange lights flew both into and out of the throng.
Peter called out to those who were fighting, "New wave! New wave!" And the first attack team saw more Slytherins run into the fray, surrounding some of the Gryffindors. The Gryffindors quickly fell, but many of the Slytherins had already gone down, too.
Patty, who was quiet, but had a surprisingly quick wand, went around rousing fallen Gryffindors to bring them back into the battle. James, Gillette and Byron, along with a good number of the quidditch team, came up behind the new Slytherin arrivals. Things quickly became chaotic as the students seemed to be layered – Gryffindor, Slytherin, Gryffindor, Slytherin, and finally Gryffindor. Spells that missed their intended targets hit allies. But the element of surprise and the sandwiching ultimately worked in Gryffindor's favor.
It took six of Gryffindor's finest to carry the egg, once it had been freed of its Slytherin captors and they took it quickly to the next corridor. Remus cast a Disillusionment Charm on the egg and its handlers, hiding them from view. "Told you that spell would come in handy," he smirked at James, who couldn't comment because he was spending all his energy keeping the egg up. It was surprisingly heavy and, for some reason, couldn't be lightened.
A few students stayed behind at the battlefield. Sirius and Lily stayed as guards. Patty, Gillette, and Addison revived who they could. Ophelia, one of the seventh-year girls, who was training to be a healer, reversed many of the spells and did patch jobs on the minor injuries that had occurred. Once all of the Gryffindors were taken care of, and the egg was sure to be safely out of the way, they turned their attention to the Slytherins, patching them up and sending them on their way. This really only deepened the Slytherin humiliation, however, and many vowed revenge.
Regulus had been one of the fallen, and when he was revived, he glanced quickly at his brother before turning away.
Sirius felt an odd sense of foreboding that he and Regulus had been on the same battlefield, but opposite sides. They had been so close and, for all he knew, one of his spells could have taken out his brother. He felt a hand on his arm, intruding on his morose thoughts. He looked around and saw Gillette watching him, her hand gently resting on his arm.
"You okay?" she asked.
"Yeah." Sirius frowned. It was just a stupid egg contest. Why did it feel so much deeper? "It's just weird."
"And, sadly, far too common in war," Gillette whispered.
Sirius nodded. She obviously knew what he was thinking about, so he didn't try to hide it. After a moment, he flashed a quick smile and patted her hand. "We done here?"
Gillette looked over at Ophelia. She was helping the last of the Slytherins to her feet. "Looks like. Ready to play defense?"
"No rest for the weary," Sirius grinned. As they walked away, he asked, more to himself than anyone, "I wonder how Moony got up to the girls' dorm?"
Lily and Gillette snickered. "You'll have to ask him that," Lily said rather mysteriously.
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A/N – Thank you all for your kindness and patience and wonderful reviews. Y'all are awesome! Thanks also to my wonderful betas – Mom, mei mei, and Sifi. Love.
Nonair - Thanks for the compliment on Quidditch. I don't always go into much detail with the games and I sometimes wonder if that's disappointing to the reader. Glad you enjoyed. I'm also glad to hear that you like the portrayal of James and Lily's developing relationship. Thank you. And I agree with your assessment of Remus and Aden. Thanks again for the wonderful review.
