Chapter 112: The Portrait
"Is it done yet??" Sirius asked a little impatiently. They had been standing rather still for the last thirty minutes as the enchanted paintbrushes glided smoothly.
"I guess not. They're still moving." Remus looked at the moving brushes and their half-painted portrait. All ten brushes were moving magically on the large parchment held down by an antique and yet elegantly engraved frame in the middle of the Marauders' dormitory.
"Just stay still for awhile more if you want quality results." James said rather inaudibly as he tried to minimize the movements. He and Sirius was sort of leaning against each other at the upper body, tilted at a slight angle. James' right hand rested on Remus' left shoulder as he stood without much of a pose. Since Peter was the shortest, he stood in front of James and Sirius and both guys placed their forearms on his shoulders.
"This is definitely more than awhile but I'm not complaining." Sirius muttered. The four guys were near enough to hear one another. After remaining still and silent for fifteen minutes, they decided that some talking was a must.
"Padfoot, the brushes will stop painting once they've finished. They're enchanted, you know??" Remus reminded him.
"Alright." Sirius put on his most captivating smile as he noticed one of the brushes flew to do some touch-up on Sirius' mouth in the picture.
"Finally they're doing the touching up." James noticed that the whole painting was nearing completion. The charmed brushes were dabbing some of the final touch up here and there. After what felt like another fifteen minutes, the brushes stopped and flew back to their original position where Remus left them before they started.
"Done." James was feeling rather exhilarated. "Shucks, I'm having pins and needles all over." After standing so still for about an hour, it was no surprise that the blood circulation had slowed down. "Ouch, ouch, ouch." He squatted down for a while, and then straightened his hands and legs a little while keeping a hand on the wall for support.
"I am not feeling any better than you." Sirius had been squatting down the moment he moved from the stillness. The pricking sensation was over his body as he tried to bend his joints.
"Luckily I didn't pose as seriously as you guys." Remus was saying teasingly. After he stretched the muscles in his limbs and torso, everything was feeling perfectly normal.
"I'm having trouble even standing up now." Peter was in a squatting position. "And my shoulders are aching, thanks to you two." He was complaining but in a nice manner. Conscience is pricking enough.
"What's next??" James was stretching and bending his limbs as he asked Remus who was lying on the bed and referring to the list of protocol.
"We've to add four drops of all the potions needed for perfect animated portraits." Remus pointed at the seven vials standing on his table consisting different potions for various uses on paintings.
"Make it five for extreme effects." Sirius was feeling exhilarated. "I remember reading that adding an extra drop will enhance the effects."
"I'm with Padfoot for that." James agreed and the two guys gave each other a high-five despite their jabbing pain.
"Alright." Remus added five drops of the first solution, which was to add motion into the picture. The liquid spread across the whole picture and slowly the four figures came into life. "Next for maximum surround sound effects." He took the next vial and added five drops.
"I think I look good." Sirius was looking very pleased with the way he was drawn.
"Don't we all look good??" Peter commented.
"Definitely." James agreed. "One of my best portraits."
"Don't mess up my hair!!" The Sirius in the Portrait shouted at the James inside. The two guys seemed to be attempting to mess up each other hairdo.
"That's a funny sight." James raised his brows, laughing at himself and Sirius in the portrait.
"Okay, next is for permanent ever-changing movements." Remus dropped the five drops of potion on the picture and waited for it to spread.
"Where's the incantation of the Permanent Sticking Charm??" James asked suddenly.
"It's right here." Remus pointed at a lengthy paragraph of writing on one of the many parchments. "You forgotten about it already?? Considering we had an important exam on that question about a week ago."
"I returned every bit of knowledge to Flitwick the moment I left the exam hall." James replied without looking away from the portrait.
"Next is the Recognition Potion." Remus added five drops of the potion and it slowly spread all across the whole picture.
"James??" The James in the picture was talking to the real James.
"Good, you can recognize yourself." James grinned at himself in the picture as if it was a mirror.
"Prongs, you look a little retarded talking to yourself in the picture." Sirius was literally rolling on floor laughing.
"I bet you're going to talk to yourself soon enough."
"Remus??" Sirius called out.
"Yes??" Both the Remus beside him and the Remus in the picture replied simultaneously.
"This is even funnier." James started laughing at the two Remus who was looking a little confused until they caught the joke that Sirius was pulling.
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"Everyone cleared??" Sirius asked James as he re-entered the boys' dormitory smelling like dung.
"You bet." James was grinning despite the fact that he was stinking his entire dormitory. He had just gone to the common room to do his duty as a Head Boy and a Marauder. It was nearing one in the middle of the night and some of the younger students were still loitering around the common room, staying up ridiculously late to their liking. So James, had gone to plant some enchanted dungbombs around the common room, and then started chasing the students back to their dormitory. Obviously most of the students groaned and refused to move, even those who attempted to walk had literally crawled up the stairs. So he immediately muttered the spell to release the bombs all at once. And immediately everyone cleared the dormitory without much delay. After making sure he heard all the doors for the dormitories shut and no more students lingering around, he returned to his dormitory.
"Well, you don't smell good, ya know??" Sirius was commenting.
"Someone had to do the dirty job. I'm the noble knight who sacrifices himself." James said with the egoistical tone.
"Yeah, right." Sirius muttered.
"Let's not delay any further." Remus reminded them. "Before anyone returns." The Marauders quickly arrange themselves. James leading in front to make sure the coast is clear; Sirius was guarding behind to make sure no one was behind; Remus kept the humongous portrait levitated and Peter making sure it did not bump onto anything and remained in the tip-top condition.
"Jeez.. There's the portrait hole." James muttered to himself when they walked across the common room. He chanted the incantation of the Enlargement Charm and the human size portrait door now doubled their height and large enough for the portrait to float out nicely.
Remus referred to the spell he written on his parchment to remove the painting of another lady on the right to the Gryffindor entrance. Slowly he moved the painting down to his right.
"What are you all trying to do??" The Fat Lady had woken up due to the opening of the entrance.
"Nothing much. Do continue your rest." Sirius said innocently to the portrait, while winking at the rest of the Marauders. The portraits nearby that were awake were watching the Marauders inquiringly, wondering what they could be doing and talking among themselves.
"Are you trying to change the portrait??" The Fat Lady asked, eyeing Remus' direction suspiciously.
"No." Sirius was trying to divert her attention away. "Nothing of that sort."
Remus had levitated the Marauders' Portrait up to the location where the previous painting stood. He muttered the Permanent Sticking Charm and stood back. Then he levitated the previous painting down the corridor where the walls were empty, and fixed the painting up again.
"This is so cool." The Sirius in the Portrait said in hysterical excitement.
"Hey you!! Have some action!!" Sirius told the Marauders in the painting. They looked practically three-dimensional. So real that you could mistake them for real Marauders and not just painting.
"Can't wait to see how the people will respond." The James in the Portrait was saying to the others.
"Well, you guys can have some mild actions tomorrow morning." James told the Portrait.
"What had you guys done??" The Fat Lady looked absolutely horrified at her new next-door neighbors.
"Hello!!" The Marauders in the Portrait were waving wildly to the Fat Lady, which was rather hilarious when you watched it from the real Marauders' point of view.
"This can't be happening." The Fat Lady was muttering rather inarticulately.
"Hello everyone!!" The Marauders in the Portrait were waving to all the paintings around, waking most of them up from the rest.
"I think it's about time we ought to sleep." Remus said. The noise level had increased quite a fair bit considering it was already one in the morning.
"Accio." James told the nonsensically simple password to the Fat Lady and the portrait swung open. She was still muttering at the new change of neighbor. "We're going to have an interesting morning soon." The four boys climbed up to their dormitory quickly and dropped onto their bed. Within seconds, the snoring sounds from the four beds overpowered the silence.
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"Hey Lily!!" A voice sounded like James called out as Lily climbed out of the Gryffindor tower entrance.
"Huh??" Lily looked around for traces of James.
"Lils, what did you stop halfway??" Stefanie called out from the back.
"Oh – is it?? Sorry." Lily quickly walked away from the entrance and looked around for the source of voice.
"Hey Stef!!" Stefanie stopped and looked behind her and gave a puzzled look and climbed out. "I thought Remus was behind me." She told Lily.
"I'm just as confused. I heard James but I didn't see him." Lily frowned a little, looking right and left.
"We're over here." Lily and Stefanie looked around them before they laid their eyes on something very peculiar. They looked up at the portrait on the right side of the Fat Lady and gasped.
"Oh – er – what's going on??" Lily was totally caught off guard looking at the Marauder verisimilitudes. Even Stefanie was too shocked for words.
"What are you guys doing in there??" Stefanie asked in a surprise.
"That's because we're the painting of the Marauders." The Remus-look-alike answered to her queries.
"What??" Lily and Stefanie said together coincidentally. It sounded, and looked, as though their sense of hearing and sight was deceiving them.
"It can't be. I mean that's not possible." Lily said rationally. "You guys look so real. How can a painting look so three-dimensional??"
"Seriously, how did you guys end up there??" Stefanie asked the Marauders in portrait.
"We are speaking the truth." Remus told them. "We're really the painting of the Marauders."
"Are you sure??" Lily asked skeptically.
"They're really paintings." The Fat Lady told the two girls.
"Huh??" Lily and Stefanie looked confused.
"The four guys changed the painting last night." The Fat Lady said in such an annoyed and tired tone.
"Ooh – thanks." The two girls did not know what else to say.
"Accio." Lily gave the password and the portrait of the Fat Lady swung opened. The two girls went in and headed straight to the seventh-year boys' dormitory.
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"Cool!!"
"How did they do that??"
"Must be really talented!!"
"I want to have a portrait of myself up in Hogwarts too!!"
"I bet its loads of work!!"
"Great job!!"
"How did you guys do that??" Ted and Alex jogged up towards the Marauders as they came down to the common room, accompanied by Lily and Stefanie.
"The Marauders' portrait looked so much better than all the others around Hogwarts!!" Kate complimented and Andromeda nodded in agreement.
"Maybe we should get out Gryffindor house team up as well." Gracie suggested. Most of the Gryffindors were in the common room or outside talking animatedly about the new portrait.
"Good job!!" One of the Gryffindor prefects called out to them.
"Thank you!! Thank you!!" Sirius started waving his hands to everyone in the common room. "We hope you love it." Most of the first- to third- years were clapping and cheering for the Marauders. "We just want all of you to remember us in the years to come!!" More applause were heard, even from those in the higher years.
"Guys!!" Stefanie laughed and shook her head. The two girls were quite hidden with the whole Gryffindor surrounding the Marauders.
"How did you guys do that??"
"What charms did you use??"
"Any potions??"
"Well, we can't disclose any of our Marauders' secrets to all of you here." James called out, drowning the voice of the noisy chatters. "If you study hard and pay attention to class, you can create your own portrait someday too."
"Yeah, right." Lily rolled her eyes at James' comment. "So much for studying hard and paying attention to classes, like Charms and Potions??" The Marauders were known for barely paying attention in Potions, and Charms was never their forte.
"Breakfast is about half finished. And lessons will be starting soon." Remus told the group of keen listeners. "Skipping classes isn't something you should do since exams are nearing." In a flash, most of the students dashed out of the common room, giving them peace once again.
"We should keep them here longer. They would miss us once we graduate." Sirius told Remus when the last traces of students had left the Gryffindor tower.
"I think we should start heading for breakfast too. Don't you guys agree??" Lily told them.
"Yeah, that reminds me. I'm feeling hungry." James touched his stomach.
"I'm sure by now the whole school would have heard of the Marauders' portrait." Remus joked. The group of six chatted and joked all the way until the Great Hall when they realized that breakfast was already over.
"Oops, breakfast's gone." Lily pretended to shriek in surprise.
"Have you forgotten the kitchens??" James told her.
"No, I haven't. That's why I'm not panicking."
"Let's go to the kitchens for a breakfast feast." Sirius announced.
"Not another feast." The two girls groaned. It seemed like the Marauders were feasting themselves every now and then ever since exams were over.
"I'm getting fat." Lily complained.
"Me too." Stefanie agreed.
"Me three." James added.
"Prongs!! You're behaving like a girl!!" Sirius scolded lightly. "That's so unbecoming of you."
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"Mr. Potter, Miss Evans." The six of them turned around to see Professor McGonagall storming towards them.
"Uh-oh" Peter muttered inaudibly.
"Morning, Professor." All six of them greeted Professor McGonagall.
"Professor Dumbledore wants to talk to both of you now." Professor McGonagall said. "In his office."
"Okay." James and Lily followed Professor McGonagall while the other four of them headed towards the lake.
"Did something happen??" Lily asked.
"Professor Dumbledore will tell you about the details." This signaled the maximum information Professor McGonagall would disclose on their way towards their Headmaster's office.
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"The painting idea is so cool!!" The seventh-year Ravenclaws, apparently had heard of the Marauders' portrait, came by the area where the three Marauders and Stefanie were sitting by the lake.
"Hey girls." Stefanie greeted her Ravenclaw friends. "Join us??"
"Thanks." They three Ravenclaw girls said at different timing.
"We heard about the Marauders' painting, and even went to take a look at it." Eva commented. "That's such a brilliant idea."
"Of course, you can't expect anything below standard from the Marauders." Sirius said in a rather pompous and funny manner as he joined the girls.
"Any clues on how to go about doing it??" Mabel asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Nah, nah!!" Sirius shook his index finger. "As beautiful and attractive you ladies are I can't disclose any Marauders' secrets."
"How about some hints??" Jun asked.
"Do some research and try some concoctions." Sirius was enjoying the attention from the girls. Stefanie and Remus moved a few steps away from the group, enjoying each other company and looking at the Hogwarts Lake. Peter was sitting on top at a lower branch of the tree, appearing to be deep in thoughts.
"That isn't very helpful. Any more??" Mabel asked again.
"That's the most I can disclose. Check out the library and invent new potions??"
"Aww. We thought we might want to learn from the Marauders. Since they're like the most brilliant students around."
"Thank you!! We knew that. But of course, there're many hidden talents that you girls don't know."
"Can't you just give us more obvious clues??" Eva asked again.
"Sorry, Marauders' pledge to secrecy." Sirius shrugged. "What you need to do is improvise the potions already available. That's the most obvious hint I can give you." He flashed his most charming smile.