Chapter 97: Ideas
"NO WAY!!"
"This is a great prank!!"
"Yeah, and at the risk of my peanut butter!!"
"It's only a few jars."
"It's twenty jars, mind you."
"Yeah, somewhere there."
"That's my one year supply of peanut butter!!"
"You can get more when you go home for Christmas."
"Something tells me my Mum won't be happy if I ask for another ten jars of peanut butter."
"Prank or peanut butter."
"Peanut butter."
"Are you a prankster or peanut butter king??"
"I'm the Peanut Butter Prince."
"Give me a break."
"You give me a break."
"So are you going to give up your peanut butter??"
"I said no."
"Well.."
"Well what??"
"So we shall hover around the Hogwarts turrets, and then hover above the Forbidden Forest and then travel above Hogsmeade Village, with a fly through at the station??"
"Frankly, that sound like something everyone already did at some point of their schooling life." James told Sirius, who just came up with some suggestion on the route for night flying.
"I suggested the Journey-To-The-East but you didn't agree."
"That would require a week of traveling and not overnight!!" Remus laughed at his friend's stupidity.
"Ok, you two are all smart and almighty. Go ahead and think of the route without me." Sirius pouted and sat on his bed, hands crossed in front of his chest.
"Sometimes I just doubt Padfoot's age and sexuality." James shook his head.
"Me too." Remus added,
"Me three." Peter chirped in. The next thing that happened was three pillows flew at Sirius' roommates and hit them on their heads.
"Ouch!!"
"This is our proposal to Professor Dumbledore." James told his fellow prefects during the monthly prefect meeting. "Professor McGonagall will overlook this whole event, especially on the safety department."
"We had came out with the brief overview of this whole event which will take place somewhere in March. Only third years and above are allowed to participate. All participants have to undergo a selection before they are allowed to go for this trip." A few hands rose from various spots of the room after Lily's statement.
"It's a school event and by right, everyone is supposed to participate." A fifth year Hufflepuff pointed out.
"I understand your point. But since we wanted to make this event special, extra precautions are needed." James explained. "I just want to make sure the participants are able to fly properly on their brooms. The house team players and reserves are excused for that, but everyone including the prefects must undergo this selection. So those of you who are not very good with your flying techniques, you still have ample time to brush it up. Because all prefects have to attend this event." A few groans could be heard from some of the lousier flyers.
"Where would be we going to??" Alice, a seventh-year Ravenclaw prefect, asked James.
"Is there any particular places you guys want to fly over??" James asked the rest.
"Forbidden Forest."
"Scotland."
"England."
"Durmstang Institute."
"Asia."
"Okay okay, I get your point." James raised his hands to get their attention. "Lily and I will plan the basic route first. On every Friday from the first week of January, all prefects are to tryout the test route and improve on it. In this way, we can build up your stamina, especially for those not in their house teams, and also to ensure teamwork during the event to minimize any exposure to danger down to zero."
"Any professors going??"
"Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall will definitely be going." Lily told them. "We've yet to ask the other professors yet. But Madam Pomfrey would be there as well."
"I've a question." A fifth-year Hufflepuff raised his hand.
"Yes??" All the prefects turned to look at what he had to ask.
"You-know-who is out there and if he knows about this-"
"That is not our main priority now that Dum - Professor Dumbledore would be there with us. And we'll use the Fidelius Charm as well as the Disillusioned Charm during our journey. This is strictly confidential as we do not want the other students to get all panicky about this." James said firmly with confidence.
"What's the Fidelius and Disillusioned Charm about??" Another fifth-year asked.
"Stop following me!!" A shrieking voice could be heard from one of the corridors. "And mine you, don't go around telling others your surname. Such a disgrace to our family."
"Who's that??" Ted whispered to Alex. The two guys were sneaking around the corridors in the evening.
"Sorry Bellatrix, I didn't mean that. You're my sister and-"
"I don't have a sister like you!!"
"Bellatrix Black, someone from Slytherin." Alex frowned.
"Let's see who is that bitch bullying." Ted walked faster, following the source of the voice.
"Please don't be like that. You and Narcissa are-"
"Our parents only have two daughters, and that's me and Narcissa. I'm warning you, stop disturbing me or I shall make sure you get expelled." A soft crying sound echoed through the corridors.
"I'm sorry."
"We don't have anything to do with each other. Narcissa and me are sisters. You are just you."
"Bella, this bitch is so annoying, let's just go." A boy's voice could be heard.
"There are more than two people." They reached the end of the corridor and peeked over. "That's Andromeda."
"Wait. Don't rush into it."
"The two third-years are bullying a poor first-year." Alex was holding Ted back.
"I'm warning you. We're not related." Bellatrix threatened Andromeda.
"Don't bother about her, let's go." Another third-year Slytherin, Rodolphus Lestrange, stood at one side, arms crossed and looking very irritated indeed.
"I didn't choose to be in Gryffindor." Andromeda was in tears. "Please don't leave me." Bellatrix was looking very hostile as well.
"Just buzz off." Rodolphus gave a hard shove and Andromeda fell backwards.
"What are you two doing?? Bullying a Gryffindor!!" Ted released from Alex's grip and shouted at the third-year Slytherins.
"Associating with mudbloods, I'm totally disgraced by your behavior." Bellaxtrix wrinkled her nose in disgust, ignoring Ted's comment.
"Don't pollute yourself by talking to them." Rodolphus told Bellatrix.
"You're right. Let's go." The two haughty Slytherins turned their backs on them and left, leaving Andromeda on the ground with the two guys.
"Hey, you alright." Ted kneed down beside Andromeda.
"I'm fine. Thanks." Andromeda stood up quickly, careful not to make any eye contact with her two fellow Gryffindors. "Ouch." She winced lightly in pain.
"You're hurt." Alex told her.
"Nothing serious. I'm really fine." Andromeda said, still staring at the ground avoiding the eye contact. Supporting herself with a hand by the wall, she tried walking slowly back to the Gryffindor tower.
"Do you want me to get Professor McGonagall or Madam Pomfrey here??" Ted asked.
"No. Don't do anything. Just pretend that nothing happened tonight." Andromeda was trying hard not to cry.
"That two Slytherins were bullying you and you're not saying anything." Ted's tone was bitter. "And how dare he call me the m-word. I totally know what they're referring to."
"I apologize for that. And I don't think muggleborns are anywhere below the pure blood."
"You're not in the wrong and don't apologize for something you did not do."
"Thanks." The three walked in silence slowly since Andromeda did not want any help from the two guys.
"Padfoot, your appetite had grown over the last break." James shook his head, laughing at his greedy friend.
"I was a laborer doing such manual tasks, it's naturally that I get hungry." Sirius defended.
"Hungry is one thing, but you're now eating servings for eight!! That's a hell lot more than us." Remus added.
"Can't help it, I'm the only one growing here." Sirius was already standing more than 1.8m, the tallest among the four.
"Yes, tall guy, sooner or later you will be expanding sideways."
"I assure you that no matter how much I'm expanding sideward, it can't go too far."
"Don't talk too soon. You never know. Besides I've no difficulty imagining a fat and obese Padfoot."
"Ted, Alex, what are you two doing out here so late?? Ann, what happened?? Why are you crying??" Remus was the first to notice the three first-years.
"Who dare to bully my favorite cousin??" Sirius said loudly, comforting his cousin in his own way.
"It was Bellatrix and Rodolphus from Slytherin." Ted told the Marauders.
"The Slytherins are too much!!" Sirius slammed his hand on the wooden table in the Gryffindor common room. Some of the younger students jumped in surprised and quickly returned to their dormitory. It was rare to see the Marauders getting angry and that was not a pretty sight.
"Ann, everything's gonna be alright." Stefanie had her arm around her younger cousin.
"We must get back at them." Ted told the Marauders.
"That's for sure." James agreed.
"Any ideas??" Peter asked the group. Currently dominating the Gryffindor common room was none other than the Marauders, Lily and Stefanie, and the three first-years.
"Sirius, forget it." Andromeda spoke up. "It's ok."
"They bullied you and you said it's ok." Sirius raised his voice. "Even if it's ok with you, that's definitely not ok with me. I, being your cousin, and Sirius Black, am not going to let the Slytherins off for doing that."
"Ann!!" Kate Potter entered the common room via the spiral staircase from the girls' dormitory. "What happened??"
"It's my sister." Andromeda said softly. Kate nodded showing understand and kept quiet, listening to the guys who were making more noise than the victim herself.
"They deserve a prankfest." James spoke up. "It had been a long long time since we last did something like that."
"So are you willing to let go of your peanut butter now??"
"Yes."
"What's the sudden change of decision??"
"No particular reason."
"I got a feeling that this got something to do with a particular girl."
"Haha. Very funny."
"I know."
"I suddenly have another idea for pranking them instead of wasting my peanut butter."
"What??"
"Look, you can't come and ask us for pranking tips. The art of pranking is self-learned, through experimenting and playing." James said. He was doing his night patrolling around the corridors when the two first-years approached him.
"But don't you agree that this is a good idea." Ted said.
"It's a good idea, I must agree. But in order to make sure its foolproof, research must be done. Charms must be modified. And frankly this idea never popped into my mind so I don't have a clue about the incantation to it, if there is one in the first place."
"Caught at mischief." Lily paced up to catch up the three guys ahead of her. "I've heard the whole plan." She grinned mischievously at the two first-years.
"Oh no!! You're not going to tell on us, are you??" Alex asked, a little worried about the fact that the Head Girl overheard their pranking idea.
"Well, that depends how well you two behave." Lily, still having the playful grin on her, told the two guys.
"Please don't." Ted begged. Both guys gave her a sweet puppy face look at her.
"Haha, alright. My mouth is sealed." Lily assured them. "But you must make sure I've a good laugh during the prank."
"No worries. You're on!!" Ted and Alex were literally jumping for joy.
"Run along, you've got six more corridors on your way back to avoid the teachers." James told them.
"Oh yeah, it's curfew time and you two are still out."
"Okay, we shall not disturb the lovey-dovey couple." Ted and Alex laughed and ran off before James attempted to chase after them.
"Those two remind me of the four of you." Apparently Lily had chose to ignore the last comment they made.
"I see their potential." James agreed. "Hogswart can't go prankster-less."
"Andromeda reminds me of myself in the past." Lily suddenly changed topic.
"Huh?? You mean you and your sister??"
"Yeah. Maybe we were never close in the first place so that wasn't too bad. But for Ann, she's quite attached to her sisters and now she's in Gryffindor, they deserted her."
"She won't be Sirius' favorite cousin if she is in Slytherin. He never shows any relations with Narcissa and Bellatrix though they are cousins."
"I know what you mean. I just can't help showing sympathy towards Ann." Lily thoughts ran deep. "And this is definitely not a good feeling to have sisters against you for no reason."
"Don't talk about the unhappy past." James tried to divert the attention away from the sad topic. "Did you know what prank the two of them have against the Slytherins??"