The Marauders sat in the library, talking about what Sirius and Jeremiah had discussed earlier that day. Each Marauder agreed that they would help the group that Jeremiah was a part of. James was hesitant at first, because he was a little biased about the houses, but Sirius had known James for a very long time, even longer than James could imagine. Therefore, Sirius knew how to make him see reason. James finally agreed with everyone else.
The discussion then turned to Regulus and Capella's classes that day. "Then, in History of Magic, we were learning about some magical creatures that went extinct," Regulus explained. "Dolores complained the whole time, repeatedly interrupting Grandmother. She made it clear that she hates animals of any kind."
"Of course she does," Severus drawled. "She doesn't like anything, really."
"Not true," Mary cut in. "She likes to complain."
"Yes, she likes to complain about everything," Capella stated. "I'm still waiting for a class where she doesn't complain about something or someone."
"Well, today, it was about animals," Regulus muttered.
James looked thoughtful for a moment before a grin spread across his face. "I have an idea!" he exclaimed happily.
"Oh no," Lily muttered. "What is it, James?"
"We should make her deal with animals," James explained.
"How so?" Alice asked curiously.
"Well, we could cast a charm on her, so everything she touches at meals, excluding people of course, but any object she touches, even food, will turn into animals!" James said excitedly.
The rest of the Marauders stared at James. Sirius definitely knew that the Marauders never played this prank in his original timeline.
"Do you know a spell that can do that?" Remus asked.
"Yes, I do, actually," James said with a grin. "My father showed it to me."
"Oh, great," Severus groaned. "You're going to get us in trouble!"
"Why would I do that?" James asked.
"Er… What about the time we went into Hogsmeade?" Regulus asked.
"And the time we snuck into the kitchens and you wanted butterbeer and firewhiskey?" Lily added.
"And both of those adventures were YOUR idea," Severus reminded him.
"Oh, alright, alright," James said with a sigh. "I admit. We got into some trouble, but it's all good! We won't get caught this time!"
"Why do I have this feeling that we will be caught?" Lily asked with a sigh of frustration.
"Probably because we will be," Sirius responded. He remembered that in their first, second, and third year in his original timeline, they had been caught for every prank they played. They had only not gotten caught in later years because they got better at not getting caught. However, he knew that he had to let James learn this lesson himself. Sirius couldn't force James to mature. He just hoped that they would not be in too much trouble.
On their way to dinner, they saw Dolores ahead of them, talking to some of the other Slytherin girls. She was complaining about owls. James rolled his eyes, and whispered the charm under his breath. Thankfully, Dolores did not even seem to notice that they were there.
The Marauders entered the Great Hall, and sat at the Ravenclaw table this time. They kept an eye on the Slytherin table, where Dolores was taking a seat. She reached out to touch a fork when it turned into a spider. She nearly screamed. She then reached to touch a spoon, which turned into a kitten.
"What in the name of Merlin?!" everyone could hear her shriek. She decided to try eating without a fork or spoon, but when she reached to pick up a piece of chicken, it turned into an actual chicken.
The students started laughing, especially the Marauders. The Great Hall was now filled with the sounds of a cat and a chicken, with the spider climbing Dolores' arm, making her jump in fright.
"STOP! STOP!" she screamed, trying to swat the spider away. "You filthy thing!"
The kitten tried sitting on Dolores' chest, and the chicken was dancing in front of her. Dolores pushed the kitten off of her as she stood and ran from the Great Hall. As she left, she could be heard shouting, "You'll regret this, whoever did this!"
When she left the room, every student burst out laughing, some even laughing hard enough to start crying.
"Who did this?" Professor McGonagall asked angrily from the head table. The only people in the hall not laughing were the staff.
The laughter died down at her question. The Marauders stopped laughing, except James. He couldn't seem to stop laughing, which, Sirius knew, was all McGonagall would need.
"Mr. Potter!" McGonagall called out. "What is so funny?"
"Er… nothing?" James replied, more as a question than a statement.
"Are you telling me, or are you asking me?" McGonagall asked, now standing in front of him at the Ravenclaw table.
"Er…" James started, but stopped. "Well, er'''. I…"
"Mr. Potter, did you have something to do with what happened to Miss Umbridge?" McGonagall asked sternly, eyes flashing.
"She deserved it!" James exclaimed. "But no, of course I didn't do it!"
"Mr. Potter," McGonagall warned. "I know for a fact that the spell used today was one that your father created himself." She was glaring at him now. "I will now ask you again. Did you have something to do with this?"
James sighed in defeat. "Yes, Professor," he finally admitted.
McGonagall turned to the other Marauders. "Did the rest of you know he was going to do this?"
"Yes," Sirius replied, knowing better than to lie to his Transfiguration professor.
McGonagall sighed. "Mr. Potter," she said sternly. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and a month's worth of detention for your prank tonight. Do not prank a student again, even if you don't like them."
"Yes, Professor," James replied. Sirius knew, however, that this was just the beginning of the pranks. He secretly was satisfied with Dolores' reactions to the animals. He wondered what would be next. Only time would tell.