Chapter 62: Surprise!! Surprise!!
"Covered every single Slytherin??" Remus asked James and Sirius who just returned from their night out.
"You bet." James said with a yawn. "We've got a show to watch tomorrow."
"Did you remember to do it to the girls??" Sirius asked Remus and Peter.
"How can we forget??" Remus remarked. "We added extra dosage for Stef, Bell, Samantha and Joey."
"Wait till Lily see it tomorrow morning." Sirius said with a laugh.
"More likely wait till when everyone sees it." James said and climbed up his bed without bothering to wash up again.
"Don't forget to do on our own hair as well." Peter reminded the three.
"Remind us later." James said sleepily. Within several minutes, the four boys were sleeping soundly with the usual snores.
"Hey Stef, wake up." Samantha shoved Stefanie gently on her bed. Stefanie stirred for a while before opening her eyes.
"Woooh!! That's early." Stefanie said a little hesitatedly.
"Do you wanna wash up first??" Samantha asked in a rather sleepy tone.
"Erm.. Sam, promise me that you won't scream no matter what happens." Stefanie said in an unconvincing tone.
"Why??" Samantha asked, suddenly a little more awake than before.
"You remember Lily's birthday??" Stefanie tried to bring up the conversation in a subtle manner.
"Yup. About ten days ago. Joey and I sent her a present via owl post." Samantha replied still blurred at the strange topic that Stefanie brought up in the wee hours of the morning.
"The Marauders are giving her their present today."
"Ah, then??"
"The present, well, is quite, erm, mass."
"Er, alright. And??"
"You and I are going to be part of the present."
"How??"
"Well, how is it going to be like having red hair for three days to a week??"
"Huh??"
"Okok, I'm going to be direct."
"Go ahead."
"In short, everyone is going to have red
hair once their hair touch water."
"What do you mean??"
"The Marauders designed a potion which turn hair to a specific colour with some charms and who-knows-what inside with just a few drops on one's hair."
"You mean my hair is going to turn red the moment I wash it??"
"Yes. But it's not permanent. It will only last one week if you wash your hair normally. If you wash it over and over again, attempting to wash the red color off, it will get brighter and brighter until you reach something like, neon red??"
"Er, alright. So it's just a warning??"
"Yes, I don't want you to get it as a shock or something."
"That's why you want to wake up and inform me about it??"
"That's right."
"Thanks. I tell Joe when she's up."
"Thanks. Let me sleep for another ten minutes." With that, Stefanie dropped back to her pillow and fell asleep once again. Samantha gathered her uniform and headed towards the bathroom to wash up.
"Aaaaahhhhhhh!!"
"My HAIR!!"
"WHAT HAPPENED TO MY HAIR?!?"
"Who did this??"
"Who made my hair red?!?"
"WAKE UP!!" Arabella and Joey were shaking Lily vigorously. All of them had already washed up although it was still quite early for breakfast. Lily, on the other hand, was still sound asleep, totally undisturbed by the chaos going around the school. That had been screams and shouting coming from various levels of both Gryffindor boys' and girls' dormitories. Needless to say, there were much more coming from the other houses' towers.
"Five more minutes." Lily said sleepily as she covered her head with a pillow using her free hand.
"You better wake up now!!" Joey called out and continued shaking Lily, making sure that there was no possible way Lily could fall asleep again.
"What's the hurry??" Lily muttered sleepily as she sat upright still with her eyes shut.
"Open your eyes." Samantha ordered.
"Ah." Lily opened her eyes, took a quick glance at her roommates and drop backwards again.
"Wake up!!" Joey pulled Lily upright again. Arabella started tickling Lily sides.
"AAHHH!!" A sharp piercing scream escaped from Lily's mouth.
"That was brilliant." Stefanie praised jokingly.
"AAHHH!!" Lily saw her roommates and got into a shock. "I must be dreaming."
"You're not." Stefanie said, trying not to laugh. Arabella, Stefanie, Joey and Samantha were now 'redheads'. They had a similar shade of flaming red hair with Lily.
"What happened to your hair??" Lily asked in amusement.
"It's a birthday present for you!!" Stefanie said.
"Oh my gosh!!" Lily gushed. "Thank you so much!!"
"Bet you thought we have already given you the present." Arabella said.
"You did. Look at my anklet." Lily held her leg up to show her silver anklet, which play the tune Sundial Dreams whenever she requested it to.
"This present is from the Marauders." Joey said as she dragged Lily out of bed and shoved her into the bathroom.
"Thanks." Lily barely spoke when Joey closed the door of the bathroom.
"Why are you out again??" Samantha asked Lily as she walked out of the bathroom after a second behind the closed door.
"I have yet to gather my uniform." Lily took her uniform from the trunk and her wand from the bedside table and headed to the bathroom again. "Wait for me. Be right out!!"
"Ok, you've only five minutes." Joey called out.
"This look really strange." Lily said as another three third-Gryffindors with various shades of red hair walked passed her in the common room.
"But it was good." Stefanie commented. "Look at the first and second-year guys, they didn't bathe this morning." Samantha and Joey had already left for breakfast, leaving Lily, Arabella and Stefanie waiting for the Marauders at the common room.
"Are we still planning the old trick with James and Sirius??" Arabella whispered to Lily.
"Er, depends on my mood I supposed. I must say I'm really touched and impressed by their present." Lily spoke as she looked around the room, checking out the new color hairstyle or the unwashed hair.
"Did anyone just mention the word impressed??" A male voice called out.
"I did, for your information." Lily admitted with a tone of defiance.
"Ooo, you must be really impressed when you use that word." James said in a kidding manner.
"I'm really impressed by the Marauder's way of presenting a gift." Lily said jokingly, apparently forgiving James. Arabella shot her a look but Lily did not catch her eye.
"Well, the Marauders are impressive. Did you just realize it today or what??"
"I think I only realize you guys are indeed impressive today." Lily and James were talking animatedly once again like the good old days.
"Do you two want to talk the whole day away and skip our breakfast and first day of lesson??" Remus called out. The five of them were already exiting from the tower.
"Might as well skip school and get married." Sirius added and the five of them started laughing.
"Hey, wait up." Lily called out and ran across the common room towards her friends, apparently not hearing Sirius' remark. "Don't leave me alone with the egomaniac!!"
"What do you mean by calling me egomaniac??" James said, sounding rather offended.
"Just joking." Lily said sweetly. "By the way, nice hair color you got there." All of them laughed at the joke. James' usual messy black hair was now fiery red in color but still messy as always.
"Well, at least we only have it for a couple of days, unlike you, stuck with it for life." James teased and Lily chased after him, attempting to beat him up physically instead of using magic.
"I see the usage of a very advanced charm which I did not thought was possible for a fifth year." Professor Flitwick squeaked from the front of the class. It was their first lesson of the day and the whole Gryffindor class was having Charms. They had selected seven subjects, which were required to become an auror. "This charm, known as the combination of temporary but irreversible charm and color changing charm-"
"I thought you're lousy at Charms??" Lily turned back to ask James who was sitting behind her.
"I am still lousy at that. Who said that I was the one who did the charm??" James said, pretending to listen very attentively to Professor Flitwick.
"-designed the one and only invisibility charm. Unfortunately it was banned by the Ministry last summer due to illegal usage to trespass the Ministry." Professor Flitwick droned on and on. According to syllabus, they were supposed to learn the invisibility charm during somewhere in sixth year. "So we shall start on the camouflage charm. It's very similar to the disillusionment charm you learnt last year but with some differences-"
"James!!"
"Sirius!!"
"Remus!!"
"Peter."
The Marauders turned around to take a look at whoever was calling them across the corridors.
"Hi girls." Sirius said coolly. Remus and Peter gave a polite smile while James just ignored them because he found the three Hufflepuff girls plain irritating.
"You guys are really brilliant to come up with a prank like this." Prue squealed.
"Actually it was a birthday present from us to Lily." Remus said before Sirius started on his conversation with them again. The three Hufflepuffs had been finding opportunities to talk and get to know the Marauders again and again.
"That's really sweet of you guys." Piper piped in. "We would love a birthday present like that too."
"We-" Sirius started speaking but James cut in.
"We only give birthday presents for our special friends." James said, looking clearly annoyed at the three Hufflepuffs who were disturbing them from going for their lunch.
"We simply would love to get to know you guys better so we can-" Phoebe said in a higher pitch of voice.
"Sorry girls, we need to go for our lunch now." Remus said politely and the four guys started walking briskly towards the Great Hall.
"We're going for our lunch too." Prue said and the three girls hurried to join them once again.
"Someone do the disillusion charm." James muttered to the group.
"Where are the guys??" Stefanie asked Lily. They had just finished their first Defense Against Dark Arts lesson and Arabella was called to stay back for a short while by Professor Plain.
"No idea." Lily said indifferently as both girls were standing outside the classroom waiting for Arabella. Most of the students had cleared and gone for their lunch break.
"What's going on between you and James??" Stefanie asked suddenly.
"Huh?? What??" Lily was caught in surprised by that question again.
"I was asking what's-"
"I know what you're asking. Well, obviously nothing."
"Are you sure?? He seems interested in you."
"Well, that's what you think. I'm quite happy with the way we are now. I can't imagine dating someone as egoistic as him." Lily said defensively. "I know I had a crush on him way back in first year and it was on for several years. But somehow-"
"You remembered you liked him when you're in first year??"
"Yeah, sort of. Anyway I-"
"You regained your memory??"
"I don't know about that. It just popped out I supposed."
"That's really brilliant."
"I don't think it's anywhere that brilliant actually. It's no big deal."
"To James, it's a big deal."
"Nah, doubt so. Anyway what do you think Professor Plain is talking about with Arabella??"
"I don't know. Grades??"
"I wonder how long is she going to take. I'm getting kinda hungry."
"You're always hungry."
"I'm still growing."
"Hey Bell, what happened??" Stefanie asked Arabella the moment she stepped out of the classroom. Arabella had an indescribable shocked and stunned and yet ecstatic expression.
"Lily, can you spare a moment??" Three Hufflepuffs approached Lily, Arabella and Stefanie.
"Yes??" Lily asked them politely. The three girls eyed Arabella and Stefanie with a look of disagreement.
"Can we talk privately??"
"Hey, I see you guys soon." Lily told Arabella and Stefanie and then turned to the Hufflepuffs again. "Yes, what??"
"What is your relationship with James??"
"What??"
"You didn't hear me clearly??"
"I don't mean that. Anyway there's nothing going on between me and James."
"What did you do to make the Marauders give you such a birthday present??"
"Nothing at all. We're just friends."
"He said that you're special."
"Huh?? Can't be. I believe the Marauders will give something to Arabella and Stefanie as well on their birthday."
"What seductive spell did you use on him??"
"I didn't use any spell or charm or potion."
"It's only between you and us."
"What's between you and Lily??" A male voice called out. There was no one at the corridor except the four girls.
"Who's that??" Prue called out, looking left and right.
"That us." The Marauders suddenly reappeared from nowhere along with Arabella and Stefanie.
"What are you doing with Lily??" James asked the three Hufflepuffs threateningly.
"Nothing at all. We're just chatting." Prue said sweetly.
"What did they try to do to you??" James asked Lily.
"Nothing. What would they do to me??" Lily said, puzzled at the strange situation.
"You heard her. We didn't do anything." Phoebe retorted.
"I warn you three. If you dare to bully Lily, Stefanie or Arabella, the Marauders will not let you off." James threatened and turned his back on the three girls.
"Let's go." Remus said and the seven of them turned towards the Great Hall.
"What's going on??" Lily asked.
"Ignore those three. They meant harm." Stefanie told her.
"Why??"
"They're jealous of us being friends with the Marauders. They did that to me somewhere last year when I was getting too close to Remus in their opinion."
"Oh, I see."
"They asked me about James and I thought it was outrageous." James wanted to say something when Remus stopped him. "Anyway I'm famished, aren't you??"
"Yes, we're. Bell, can you tell us what happened in the classroom just now??" Stefanie asked.
"Oh Merlin!!" Sirius said in shocked.
"It's both good and bad news." Stefanie remarked. Arabella had just told them briefly about what happened in the classroom with Professor Plain.
"It seems so unreal." Arabella admitted. Professor Plain had called her in to tell her that she was her biological mother. "It didn't strike me as that since she denied it last year."
"She has her reasons for doing everything." Lily added.
"I understand fully, but I'm afraid bad
things might be happening soon enough. She knows."
"What bad things??" Sirius asked.
"It's quite depressing to know. Let just keep it a mystery until it happens." Arabella said pessimistically but her eyes seemed to be shiny, with either tears of sadness or joy. Lily and Stefanie exchanged a look; both of them know some of the dismal facts.
"We're having Potions next." Peter spoke up suddenly.
"We're only left with three minutes to be at Porky's Dungeons!!" Sirius shouted. The seven Gryffindors grabbed their book bags and made a dash towards their next lessons in great hurry.
"Late for the first lessons." Professor Porky remarked. "Five points off to Gryffindor for each latecomers." The seven of them kept quiet because if they ever speak, they would lose more points for Gryffindor than they can earn them with Quidditch.
"I can't wait till the end of the lesson already." James mumbled to himself rather loudly.
"Five points off for Potter. I did not allow you to speak." Professor Porky barked. "This is the procedure for preparing the enlargement potion." James kept quiet as he clenched his fists. "You may get started now."
The class started preparing and adding the ingredients into their cauldron. The class was in total silence besides the chopping sounds and bubbling liquid.
"Black, are you sure you had added all the ingredients in the correct order??" Professor Porky barked. Sirius' cauldron was shimmering red in colour while most of their cauldrons were blue.
"I believe I did."
"Read Step eight again." Sirius re-read but did not realized what he had forgotten.
"Did you notice your error??" Professor Porky said coldly.
"No, I didn't."
"Ok, we shall tell when you add it to your pet." Sirius shuttered at the thought of Giant suffering. Giant was swimming in the small one feet tank at the side of the classroom along with pets from the other students. Professor Porky continued his rounds in the class, spotting the tiniest mistake any student made, and smirking away whenever one of the Gryffindors made any.
"Time's up." Professor Porky barked. The students took their pets and dropped two drops of their potion on their pets. Immediately, their pets started enlarging till three times of it original size.
"This is brilliant." Sirius was saying as Giant was enlarging to more than three times of its original size and was still growing.
"Black, did you realize the mistake you made??"
"No, I didn't. I found a new potion."
"You did not discover this potion. The ingredient you forgot was used to control the size of the animal being enlarged. Twenty points off Gryffindor for being imprudent and not following instructions." Professor Porky barked as he gave out the antidote for the potion. Within five minutes, Giant had grown to about twenty times of its original size and occupied a big portion of the classroom.
"The antidote is not working." Sirius called out behind Giant. The minuscule squid was now so gigantic that it blocked Sirius from the rest of the classroom.
"Bring the squid and release into the lake immediately." Professor Porky barked as Sirius pulled Giant along with him and left the dungeon classroom.