Disclaimer: Do I own the characters of Harry Potter and Co.? Are you kidding? Not in this lifetime anyway. They are owned by Ms. Rowling.
Now that I have gotten that out of the way I would like to thank all of you kind readers for your reviews and suggestions.
Note 1: I had a couple of comments on the number of memories that I showed McGonagall. So here is my reasoning, I am mostly Scottish, and we are a stubborn lot, so I knew that it would take a 2 by 4 to the head to get her to see how wrong she had been about blindly following Dumbledore. A couple of memories would not have done it, she had to really "see" the results of Dumbledore's manipulations before she would really believe. I hope that helps.
Note 2: I had planned on going after Fudge next but you changed my mind so see what I have done with your request.
Chapter 5: The Marauders are BACK! The Ravenclaws
Harry had thought quite a bit about Ron's question about "Who's next?" in the days after he had dealt with Professor McGonagall. Although he had been able to cross off a few people on his list, it was still contained people he felt deserved some kind of payback.
On the Friday night after the "McGonagall" incident he knew what he wanted to do.
Harry gathered his friends, which included Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville, in the Room of Requirement so that their plans would not be overheard, and began planning. When he explained what he wanted to do to his friends, they were at first shocked, and then they started laughing. Hermione did worry about getting caught, as always, but decided that it would be worth it. They discussed the best way to go about putting Harry's plan into motion, what they would need and how long it might take to prepare. Once each person knew their part in the plan, they got to work. Let the games begin!
A few days after the initial meeting of the New Marauders, what the group decided to call themselves, the first payback, I mean prank, was ready. On a bright Monday morning, several Ravenclaw girls entered the Great Hall for breakfast. To most, these girls were smart, very pretty, popular, and well liked; but to a few they were the worst kind of bullies, and they were going to find out what it was to be embarrassed. After they had eaten most of their breakfast, a big 'bang' sounded under their seats and a large cloud of smoke erupted from under the benches covering these girls completely. Everyone in the hall turned to see what the commotion was about; they could hear screams from within the smoke but could see nothing. Just as suddenly as the smoke appeared, it cleared up. Once it had dissipated students and staff alike stared at the girls in shock. The once immaculately dressed and primped girls were now dressed in odd colors, or miss-matched clothes; their hair was, well, a disaster, to say the least. Some had hair that was sticking up everywhere, some had frizzy hair, and one was even sporting a Mohawk! The girls were looking at themselves and each other in horror, meanwhile, the snickers started, which turned to outright laughter. Colin Creevey started taking pictures with his ever-ready camera. Of course, he had been told to have plenty of film beforehand, just not the reason why.
The girls finally seemed to snap out of their horror-induced shock and leapt from their seats, and raced from the Great Hall screaming. As they were leaving they could hear comments like, "Love the clothes." Or, "Can you help me with my hair?" Once these girls reached their dorms they tried to fix their hair and change their clothes only to find that everything would revert to how it had been in the Great Hall.
They hid themselves in their dorms until the charms wore off. They were there three days. Funny, nobody missed them.
A few days after the pranked Ravenclaw girls had returned to their usual schedule thinking all was well, not realizing that the New Marauders were not done with them. You see, no one had questioned why these girls had been pranked, especially after what Harry had done to Professor McGonagall, he thought that she would at least understand that these girls had done something that warranted payback. Well, he and his friends had been prepared for this and tonight was the night that the professors were going to get the message for sure. They were eating dinner and talking when there was another loud bang, with another puff of smoke which cleared quickly to reveal, six strange creatures sitting where the Ravenclaw girls should have been!
Luna Lovegood spoke up from her spot at the end of the Ravenclaw table. "Look, a Crumple-Horned Snorkack (sp?)! I told you they existed!" She squealed and clapped her hands in excitement as she continued. "And there's a Nargle, though it is a bit bigger than I thought it would be."
Once she had finished, students began laughing, not at her, but at the new "Creatures" that were sitting at the Ravenclaw table looking scared and bewildered. The creatures tried to talk, only to make the most unusual noises anyone had ever heard. This made students laugh even harder. Now, the new Creatures have gone from being scared to angry, because no one can understand them! They all looked at Luna who was looking at them with obvious excitement. While this was happening, Professor Flitwick had been approaching from the staff table along with Professor McGonagall in order to restore some order. Though if one looked closely at the diminutive professor, you might see some mirth reflected in his eyes.
"Now, girls, or, um, whatever you are, why don't we go to the hospital wing. I'm sure that Madame Pomfrey can sort you out without any difficulty. If not, you will be able to stay there until whatever this is wears off," said Professor Flitwick calmly to the students who had been transformed. He continued. "I'm, also, quite sure that Ms. Lovegood had nothing to do with this little prank. I would like to talk to the six of you when you are back to yourselves to find out why someone would prank you." He paused. "Twice." He glared at them. He suspected that Harry Potter was behind this, especially after what Minerva had told him what Mr. Potter had done to her. If he was behind it, then he probably had a very good reason to prank these girls, and he wanted to know what it was!
Harry and friends watched as Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall led the pranked students out of the hall. He had laughed just as hard as anyone else, the charms and transfiguration and worked beautifully. The six girls had also looked rather funny, especially when they became angry. A Nargle just didn't do angry! He snickered some more when he recalled that particular look. He looked at Luna, she winked at him. He was glad that he had told her about the prank in advance so that she would not be disappointed that she was not really seeing her creatures yet. He would not do that to someone he cared about. She had played her part to perfection. Hopefully, those girls will get what was coming to them. If not, he had some other pranks he could use on them. Harry looked at his friends and nodded, job well done.
A/N: I would like to thank my beta harryhermionerw, she has been terrific as always.
Note: I decided to add the Ravenclaw girls because I felt that Harry would do this for his friend Luna. This story is all about payback after all.
I hope you liked this chapter. There is a second part to this chapter. I had sooo many ideas that I decided to split them up. Don't worry, I am posting them at the same time. LOL. Next, see what I do to Malfoy and company!