Chapter 89: Physically Challenged

"This is fun!!" A first year Gryffindor shouted. Since the first years were not allowed their own broomsticks, the senior students had offered them a lift back to Gryffindor tower on their brooms.

"Definitely." Sirius told the younger student who sat behind him on his broomstick.

"Hold tight." James told the first year behind him. Immediately he accelerated to maximum speed upwards vertically.

"WOW!!" The boy behind James responded. "This is cool."

"Don't worry, I won't let you fall." Lily assured the younger student who sat behind her on her broom.

"I-I'm scared." The girl stammered with her eyes tightly shut.

"Just hold me tight and I assure you we'll be in the common room in no time." The first year held her waist even tighter, nearly choking her. "Not so tight, my dear." Lily managed weakly. Her broom was going in a rather slow pace as compared with the guys. After all, some first-years still had a phobia with flying.

"Lils, fly faster." Sirius called out, slowing down beside her.

"Eve, this is fun man!!" The first-year behind Sirius shouted.

"We're making a move first." Sirius said. "Luke, hold on tight."

"Sure thing." Luke replied. Sirius' broom soared upwards accelerating to full speed.

"Woah!!"

"Are you afraid??" Stefanie asked the girl behind her.

"Nope."

"You sure??"

"Actually a little."

"Relax a little, flying is fun." Stefanie told her, the broom was moving in normal speed up towards Gryffindor tower.

"I know, can't help feeling afraid of the height."

"We're reaching soon enough."

From the Great Hall, most of the Gryffindors were flying on pre-charmed miniature broomsticks towards the Gryffindor common room. To the normal-sized teachers, those flying broomsticks looked more like buzzing matchsticks in the air with someone sitting on them.

"Actually you guys can use matchsticks instead of broomsticks." The boy behind Remus told him.

"That's actually a good idea." Remus replied. "But a matchstick isn't safe to ride on. It's directionless and need charm to make it fly."

"Oh yeah, didn't thought of that."

"Must think of pros and cons for every equipment we use for our pranks."

"You guys are really brilliant." The first year praised.

"That's why we are the Marauders."

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"Can't we charm the broomsticks smaller??" A fifth-year Ravenclaw prefect asked.

"Not possible." Pepper replied. The Ravenclaw prefects came together on one of the chairs to discuss how they could return to their Ravenclaw tower as soon as possible while the older students were calming the younger ones.

"How about matchsticks??"

"It's a good idea, but we need to make sure they can fly and take all of us back safely."

"How about we summon just one broom to take all of us back??"

"That's quite a good idea."

"Then we just secure ourselves so we won't fall."

"That settles it."

"I get my Nimbus." The seventh-year prefect and captain of Ravenclaw quidditch team said.

The prefects went to gather all the Ravenclaws to the center of the table where the large Nimbus broomstick stood. They helped one another onto the broom and secured themselves onto it with a charm.

"Is everyone secured??" Pepper shouted to the back.

"Yes!!" A series of positive replies were heard.

"Off we go." The Ravenclaw team captain, who sat right at the front, steered his broom up and out of the Great Hall, heading back to the Ravenclaw tower. About seventy Ravenclaws, from the first to seven years were all sitting on one broomstick, was indeed showing their team spirit.

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"Come get me if you can!!" James taunted. The Gryffindor prefects had gotten all the students safely back to their common room via the broomsticks. Those who had their own brooms were out along the corridors again.

"Wait till I lay my hands on you." Lucius shouted maliciously.

"Well, we'll be waiting." Sirius added. The Marauders flew back to the Great Hall where all the Slytherins were still stuck at.

"C'mon baby." James told him broomstick as it hovered over the Slytherins, especially above Lucius and his goons.

"It's no fun playing with these goons." Remus told the Marauders loudly. "I've a better place in mind."

"Why don't we all climb up Vaness and Gordon's broom and fly back??" Severus suggested.

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"Let's move quickly." The group of Hufflepuffs were returning to their tower in a big group. They had left the Great Hall immediately after the Gryffindors by transfiguring the fork to an umbrella whereby they float down to the ground safe and sound.

"First and second years, don't stray off." The Hufflepuff prefects were keeping the order since the younger students were rather frightened.

"AHH!! LOOK!!" A fourth year cried out, pointing at something not too far away.

"It's a spider!!"

"A humongous spider!!"

"We're small that's why it's huge!!" Someone corrected.

"Let's move quickly." Some prefects led the way while the rest kept the order from the back. The spider was frightened at the strange sight and crawled out of the window.

They reached the moving staircases and all of them climbed up the steps. Some students were too short and they needed help from their fellow students.

WhiZZZ!!

A large broomstick whizzed passed their top, transporting the Ravenclaws up the staircase without any hassle.

"Why don't we use the broom instead??" Someone spoke out.

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"Hagrid, can we take Fangs out for a walk??" James asked Hagrid. The Marauders flew towards the Gamekeeper hut for a visit.

"You are too small to control Fangs." Hagrid told the four tiny Marauders who sat comfortably on his tabletop with their legs crossed.

"You always say dear old Fangs is one tame dog." Sirius added.

"Fangs is tame, but he's a big thing."

"Fangs, wanna go for a walk??" James asked the bulldog who was lying on the couch. The Marauders were such regulars in Hagrid's hut that Fangs was comfortable with them around.

"Woof!!" Fangs barked and gave his tail a wave.

"Looks like he needs a walk." Remus said, winking at the rest while Hagrid was not looking.

"Alright then." Hagrid gave in finally. The Marauders climbed onto their broomsticks again and led Fangs out of the hut.

"Thanks Hagrid!!" The Marauders shouted together.

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"You idiot, don't keep pulling me!!" Lucius shouted at his fellow Slytherins. They were trying to stable themselves on the broom, but everytime the broom was elevated by a little, someone slipped off and fell onto the table with a 'tud'.

"I can't balance myself."

"It's your broom!!"

"Those Ravenclaws can do it, so can we!!"

"Get up!!"

"In this case I don't think we can even make our way back to our common room."

"Ahh, I'm falling off."

"Hold tight." The broom finally elevated a little from the table. Though everyone was not very stable on it, they held onto it with their dear life.

There was no rapport between the Slytherins on which direction the broom should go and it dropped onto the floor before it even moved out of the Great Hall.

"OUCH!!"

"Who is the one controlling this idiot??"

"My leg!!" The Slytherins fell of from the broom, though at a very low level, injured themselves to some extent.

"We just walk back from here." Lucius shouted to the Slytherins. He made his way out of the Great Hall, with Severus and the two cronies following behind.

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"Look, those Slytherins are walking!!" James shouted loudly. The Marauders were now drifting above the walking Slytherins who abandoned the broom at the Great Hall.

"WOW!!" Remus replied. "How often do they walk??"

"I thought they only slither??"

"And the famous grease-ball isn't rolling." Peter added. The Marauders started laughing at their little joke.

"Look who's here." Sirius told the Slytherins who were walking briskly with an arrogant and irritated expression on their faces.

"A BIG DOG!!" Someone shouted. All the Slytherins started running at their fastest speed away from Fang who just started chasing them the moment they began to run.

"RUN!!" Fang ran after the shrunken Slytherins in a very slow motion and stopped to stay close to them as they continued running.

"The saliva is digusting!!" Fang's saliva was raining onto the Slytherins and drenching them from head to toe.

"It stinks!!"

"Shut up and run faster!!"

The Marauders were watching the whole event from the top and laughing at the top of their lungs.

"Those Slyther – hahaha!!" Sirius was pointing and burst into laughter when Severus tripped over a first year and Lucius fell above him, followed up with several students crashing on top of them.

"Get off me!!" Lucius shouted at his fellow Slytherins who quickly got off him and resumed running. Fang was still lurking around, his saliva making puddles on the ground and drenching them smelly.

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"Where are the guys??" Stefanie asked Lily. By now all the broom-less students were transported up to their respective dormitories by the house prefects, leaving the older students out at the common room with their broomstick by their sides.

"No idea, probably taunting the Slytherins." Lily replied, afterall Sirius had told her that the prank was mainly targeted at the Slytherins.

"Shall we check it out??"

"Okay with me." Both girls flew out of the portrait hold instead of climbing out usually. For once the hole was too high for any students to climb over at their current state.

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Fang continued to hover around the Slytherins as they made their way back to their tower in their fastest speed.

"I'm getting bored with that." Sirius told the Marauders. The whole scene of Fang dripping his saliva and attempting to pick them up with his teeth was getting boring.

"What else can we do??"

"Hmm, we can fly out into the darkness??"

"What can we do out there??"

"Erm, just fly??"

"We need an objective."

"Ok, how about getting the owls to disturb them??" Sirius pointed at the group of miniatures running.

"Sounds great." James whistled for his owl but it did not appear. "Strange."

"I think we're too soft, why not we get out to invite them in??"

"That's something interesting to do."

"In what sense??"

"For once our owls are bigger than their masters."

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"AHH!!"

"OWLS!!" Several owls suddenly flew in out of nowhere towards the Slytherins.

"We're nearing!!"

"NOO!!" Sirius' owl picked the tiny Severus up with its beak. "LET ME DOWN!!" With a little struggle, his shirt tore and he landed on top of Lucius.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?!?" Lucius screamed at the top of his lungs. The two guys picked themselves up, tired and totally irritated with the evening happenings and drenched with dog's saliva from head to toe.

"IT'S THAT STUPID OWL!!"

"CAN'T YOU LAND ELSE-" James' owl scooped Lucius up with his powerful claws. "AHHH!!"

"How dare you scold my owl 'stupid'??" Sirius shouted at Severus in a hateful tone. "Get him!!" Sirius' owl scooped Severus up with his claws this time instead of his beak.

Both their owls flew high above the ground and plummeted downwards holding onto both of them.

"AAHHH!!" The two captives screamed at the top of their lungs.

TuDD!!

"Soft landing.." Lucius said in a daze. The two Slytherins were now on Fang's back.

"W-where are we??" Severus was trying to stand but toppled over and fell flat.

"Lucius!! Are you alright??" Narcissa called out from the bottom. Fang appeared irritated having two uninvited on his back and tugging onto his fur.

"Ahh!!" Lucius finally managed stood up and took a clear view of where he was standing on. By now Fangs was shaking a little to ease his back.

"Oh no!!"

"Uh oh!!" Lucius and Severus slid of Fang's back and landed on the ground. Narcissa dashed towards Lucius side.

"Wake up!!" Both the Slytherins were now lying on the floor unconsciously. "GET DUMBLEDORE HERE!!"

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"Did you realize that the prank you played had caused harm on another??" Professor McGonagall said sternly.

The tiny Marauders were now standing at the center of Dumbledore's table. The Headmaster was sitting on his chair while Professor McGonagall and Porky was sitting opposite him.

"I insist proper punishment on these students." Porky demanded. "Fifty points off each of them and a month of detention."

"It's the last day of the semester, Porky." Dumbledore reminded.

"But it's their fault that Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Snape are in the hospital wing right now."

"So what punishment do you have in mind??"

"They can serve their detention a month into their holidays." Porky stipulated. "They deserved that."

"We never have students staying over during the holidays."

"Albus, Porky is right." Professor McGonagall said finally. The Marauders stared at her in horror.

"NO!!"

"Well, since both of you agree, then this four shall stay with us for one more month." Dumbledore said with a smile. "I believe Argus need some manpower to clean the school after so long."

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"You're kidding us!!" Lily said in disbelief.

"No one ever stay in Hogwarts during the break!!"

"We're going to be the first!!" James said sadly.

"This is terrible!!" Sirius said angrily. "How could Maggie do that to us??"

"The Slytherins are probably just pretending to be injured!!" Peter argued.

"It's not like they are crippled or something."

"They're going to be smirking at us tomorrow."

"Did Dumbledore confirm this??" Lily repeated.

"Confirmed." Remus replied. "He even owled our parents to inform them about it."

"This is going to be like hell!!"

"Being Filch's slave for a month!!"

"No one else except us and the staff and ghosts."

"No Slytherins to prank on!!"

"This is totally like hell!!"

"We're staying with you guys." Stefanie said and turned to Lily. "Aren't we, Lils??"

"Yes, we're all staying in Hogwarts." Lily agreed.

"What will dad say if you didn't return??" Sirius told Stefanie.

"I will tell him that I'll stay here with you guys. It's no fun without any one of you."

"I don't have anyone expecting me to return anyway." Lily told them.

"You two really don't have to do this."

"It's alright, really."