October 31, 1981
11:30 pm
They apparated to the Hogsmeade train station and ran up to the castle. The gates swung open magically and they quickly dashed through. Harry was in a carrier that James had transfigured with Sirius, and Lily had charmed to follow them.
The castle was dark. A few torches flickered on and off here and there, and Lily, James, Sirius and Harry caught sight of a few pearly-white ghosts floating down the hallways. They, thankfully, did not run into Peeves, though. They ran up the castle to Dumbledore's office.
"Wait. What's the password?" panicked Sirius.
"Here goes. Chocolate Frog! Sherbet Lemon! Ice Mice! Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans! Oh great! ACID POP!"
The entrance appeared. "Seriously? Acid pop?" said Sirius. James sniggered.
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Fallen into my own trap, haven't I?"
Lily cleared her throat.
"Right," said James.
"Lily, you're acting like that Umbridge woman!" said Sirius in mock disapproval.
"Who?" asked Lily. "Wait, is she the one who did that werewolf legislation thing last year?"
"Yes," said Sirius grimly.
"Alright, I will not clear my throat anymore when it's time to get you back on track. I'll turn one of you into a hamster," said Lily with a glint in her eye.
"Erm - you know what, Lily? Never mind!" said James quickly.
Lily grinned. "I don't like her very much either. But Dumbledore…"
"Right," said James again. They all climbed the stairs to the headmaster's office.
"Brings back memories, doesn't it," said Sirius. "Remember that time when we turned all the Slytherins' hair orange?"
"Very vividly," said a soft voice.
"Professor Dumbledore!" exclaimed James. The Headmaster was wearing deep purple velvet robes and a purple wizard's cap with little gold stars on it.
"What's wrong?" asked Dumbledore.
"Right. So Voldemort came over, so me, Lily and Harry all went to Sirius' house-" started James.
"What? But Sirius Black was your secret-keeper! He betrayed you! Stupefy!" Dumbledore exclaimed at Sirius.
"What? No! We forgot to tell you. Our secret-keeper was actually Peter. We thought that he would be less…expected. And about Peter - when James visited, he said that there'd been no sign of a struggle. So that means that he willingly went with Voldemort's plans. Do you think he was the spy in the Order?" asked Lily.
"Yes," Dumbledore sighed heavily. Then he brightened slightly, the shadow of a smile tugging at his lips. "Oh, wait a minute. Rennervate. Sirius, I see that the dog toys I bought you for your birthday won't go to waste, then."
"Aww, thanks, sir!" said Sirius. Then he paused. "Wait. What? Dog toys?"
"Oh yes. I know you're really a dog that goes by the name Padfoot," said Dumbledore creepily.
Harry had woken up again. "Unca Padfoot!"
"Ah," sighed James. "Anything else you found out?"
"Yes, of course!" said Dumbledore enthusiastically. "I know about Moony, and Prongs, and Wormtail, and the Marauder's Map, and Sirius' late night ope-"
"Stop! Okay That's enough! How?" sputtered Sirius in disbelief.
"Well, I am Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, aren't I?"
"Fair point," said Lily. "Anyways, Voldemort's being pranked, so we should go rescue him."
"Pranked?" asked Dumbledore.
"Oh yeah!" said Sirius enthusiastically. "You see, there's this button in Prongs' house that releases the ultimate prank machine that sets up a house arrangement full of booby traps, dangers, optical illusions, and much, much more. Patented by James, Lily, Remus and me." he said matter-of-factly.
"I should have expected that!" grumbled Dumbledore.
"Ah, well," Sirius sighed deeply. "You can't have it all."
"I suppose so," said Dumbledore.
"Wait a minute. What about Harry? We can't take him with us, can we?" said James.
"Of course not," said Dumbledore. "We can leave him with Minerva."
"We won't be disturbing her, will we?" asked Lily.
"No, I rather think she is still awake grading papers. She always is," said Dumbledore. "I'll floo-call her." He picked up a small red and gold box from a shelf near his fireplace and opened it, taking from it a fine gray powder. He threw it into the flames, which turned green. "Transfiguration Teacher's Office!"
Minerva McGonagall's face appeared in the flames. "Yes, Albus?"
"Would you mind coming through? Lily, James and Sirius are here with Harry. The Potters were attacked by Voldemort (McGonagall flinched), but they devised a way to capture him for a while," said Dumbledore, as McGonagall climbed in through the fireplace.
"Oh. Would you like my help?"
"No, actually Minerva, could you please stay here and watch the school in case he tries something with his Death Eaters while I'm gone? Also, we will be going to attempt to capture him at Godric's Hollow, but we need someone to watch Harry. Will you take him for a few hours?"
"Mind you, it's not as easy as you think. He's more James than me," said Lily grimly.
"That's all right," said McGonagall.
"All right, everyone. Let's go rescue Tom!" said Dumbledore cheerfully.
"Tom?" asked McGonagall.
"Oh - er, Tom Riddle. Voldemort," said Dumbledore hastily.
"Tom Riddle is Voldemort?" said McGonagall, surprised.
"Yeah, he is. It's a long story," said Dumbledore.
"I'm not even going to question the rescuing part. I already have a hunch about it, knowing these three!"
"That's settled then!" said Dumbledore.
"Harry, be good," said Lily.
"Harry, don't be good," said James.
"Harry, prank her!" said Sirius. Lily glared at James and Sirius.
"Harry, don't blow up Hogwarts. Please!" pleaded Dumbledore.
Harry Potter looked around at all the adults like a very innocent, confused, one-year-old boy.