Marauders to the End: Year Two, Chapter Three
TITLE: It's a New Year
FANDOM: Harry Potter
CHARACTERS: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Albus Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Lily Evans, OCs
RATING: PG-13
WARNINGS: Swearing
SUMMARY: James and Sirius try to start the year off right.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY: I literally have nothing to say about this chapter. This was around the point where I gave up trying to be coherent and just started shoving out whatever I could.
It was quite a relief to be in the castle. The Great Hall was warm, and the thought of a good dinner was one of the best thoughts anyone could have. However, James and Sirius weren’t paying attention. They were too busy plotting Slytherin first year initiation.
Even as Professor McGonagall led the first years into the Great Hall to be Sorted, James and Sirius continued whispering. Remus tried to pay attention to the Sorting, but couldn’t help but hear the carefully laid out plans being formed beside him. As they grew longer and more complicated, Remus began to wonder if James and Sirius could actually pull it off, and then realized that if they did, they’d be expelled for sure.
“Ready?” James whispered as the Sorting ended and everyone was looking the other way.
“Let’s eat first,” Sirius muttered back. “I haven’t had a decent meal in three weeks, and you know I can’t do anything clever, dangerous, and otherwise hilarious on an empty stomach. Besides, we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves this time.”
James pouted, but saw the logic of this argument. After all, it would be much more effective in the middle of the night.
Dumbledore stood up. “Welcome, one and all! I do have several announcements for you, but now is not the time to give them! Therefore, I will just say a few words: switcher, babble, complicate, twit! Thank you!”
“What the hell was that supposed to mean?” Peter asked as the dishes in front of them filled with food.
“Who cares?” Sirius asked, pulling every dish within reach towards himself. “It got us food.”
No one could disagree with this assessment, and the entire hall began to eat. James and Sirius, for once in their lives, weren’t talking. Remus knew this wasn’t good, and started scanning the staff table. The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher from last year had resigned the year before in a very memorable episode, but Remus supposed that the very plain-looking wizard talking very energetically to Professor Flitwick was the replacement. But as Remus watched, the new teacher suddenly seemed to lose his energy and fall asleep on the table.
“Great,” he muttered. “A narcoleptic Defense teacher.”
“A what?” Peter asked.
“A narcoleptic Defense teacher.”
“What does narnol... whatever you said mean?”
“Narcoleptic- suffering from narcolepsy.”
“Oh, that’s a big help.”
“Narcolepsy- a disorder resulting in the patient suddenly and without warning falling asleep. Can be caused by genetics or head injuries.”
“That can’t be good.”
“Nope. James and Sirius are sure to make that a very bad thing indeed.”
The narcoleptic Defense teacher suddenly woke up and resumed his conversation with Professor Flitwick as though nothing had happened. Remus and Peter both knew that this was going to be an interesting year of DADA classes.
When the meal was over, including dessert, Dumbledore stood up again. “Now, if you’re not all too befuddled from over-eating, I have a few very important things to tell you.
“First, a brief reminder that no one is allowed to go into the Forbidden Forest. Students below third year are not allowed to go into Hogsmeade, and no one is to be within ten feet of the Whomping Willow.
“Magic is not to be used in the corridors between classes, as it is very dangerous to both students and staff.
“Finally, we are pleased to welcome a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Zephyr.”
There was polite applause as the plain young man stood up and nodded briefly. He looked a cheerful enough fellow, all things considered.
“I believe that is everything of importance,” Professor Dumbledore said when the applause had died down. “Now, since you will all want to be well-rested before your first day of classes, you should all go to bed. Pip pip!”
There was a scraping of benches as the entire school rose and began to go to their respective dormitories. James, Sirius and Peter were glad of the throng and were able to slip away from Remus without too much difficulty, not that the latter boy did much to stop them.
The three boys slipped out of the Great Hall and generally hung back until everyone else was gone. No one noticed that they weren’t moving upstairs... or at least, James, Sirius, and Peter thought no one had noticed.
The last person to go upstairs was a girl from their year, Lily Evans, who had decided the year before that James and Sirius were both jerks, mostly because they were arrogant trouble-makers. She glared suspiciously at James as she stalked upstairs, but James only smiled innocently and called “Good night, Evans!” at her cheerfully, while Sirius pretended to tie his shoe. The moment she was out of sight, though, the two boys slipped through another door down to the dungeons.
“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Peter asked quietly.
“Positive,” Sirius whispered. “I heard all about it at home, plus we need to pick up supplies first, and the supplies are down here.”
They moved as silently as they could, James wishing he’d brought his Invisibility cloak. Why hadn’t he thought to grab it before getting off the train?
It didn’t take long to find what they were looking for. Once they had everything they needed, Sirius led James and Peter to what appeared to be a blank wall. “Let’s set it up here,” he muttered. “Get them the moment...”
“What are you doing?” a sharp voice rang out behind them.
The three boys whirled around to see Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house, glaring at them.
“Oh, shit,” James muttered under his breath.
“Come with me,” she said. The boys had no choice but to follow her, although they dropped what supplies they could.
They were led to McGonagall’s office, where they sat down and McGonagall gave them the full “you should be in your dormitory, you know better than this” lecture. “What were you even going to do?” she finally asked.
“I really don’t think you want to know, Professor,” James answered.
“Oh, I really think I do, Potter,” she said.
“Trust me, Professor, you’re really happier not knowing,” Sirius said.
She sighed. “I probably am,” she said. “You three will get a detention for being out-of-bounds, and fifty points from Gryffindor... total. Now get up to your dormitory. The password’s ‘antidisestablishmentarianism.’”
“She let us off awful easy, didn’t she?” Peter observed as they went upstairs.
“That’s because she doesn’t know what we were going to do,” Sirius said.
“By the way,” Peter said. “I didn’t get the full plans. Exactly what were we doing with that stuff anyways?”
“You’re too young to know,” James said gravely. “Let’s leave it at that.”
FANDOM: Harry Potter
CHARACTERS: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Albus Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Lily Evans, OCs
RATING: PG-13
WARNINGS: Swearing
SUMMARY: James and Sirius try to start the year off right.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY: I literally have nothing to say about this chapter. This was around the point where I gave up trying to be coherent and just started shoving out whatever I could.
It was quite a relief to be in the castle. The Great Hall was warm, and the thought of a good dinner was one of the best thoughts anyone could have. However, James and Sirius weren’t paying attention. They were too busy plotting Slytherin first year initiation.
Even as Professor McGonagall led the first years into the Great Hall to be Sorted, James and Sirius continued whispering. Remus tried to pay attention to the Sorting, but couldn’t help but hear the carefully laid out plans being formed beside him. As they grew longer and more complicated, Remus began to wonder if James and Sirius could actually pull it off, and then realized that if they did, they’d be expelled for sure.
“Ready?” James whispered as the Sorting ended and everyone was looking the other way.
“Let’s eat first,” Sirius muttered back. “I haven’t had a decent meal in three weeks, and you know I can’t do anything clever, dangerous, and otherwise hilarious on an empty stomach. Besides, we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves this time.”
James pouted, but saw the logic of this argument. After all, it would be much more effective in the middle of the night.
Dumbledore stood up. “Welcome, one and all! I do have several announcements for you, but now is not the time to give them! Therefore, I will just say a few words: switcher, babble, complicate, twit! Thank you!”
“What the hell was that supposed to mean?” Peter asked as the dishes in front of them filled with food.
“Who cares?” Sirius asked, pulling every dish within reach towards himself. “It got us food.”
No one could disagree with this assessment, and the entire hall began to eat. James and Sirius, for once in their lives, weren’t talking. Remus knew this wasn’t good, and started scanning the staff table. The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher from last year had resigned the year before in a very memorable episode, but Remus supposed that the very plain-looking wizard talking very energetically to Professor Flitwick was the replacement. But as Remus watched, the new teacher suddenly seemed to lose his energy and fall asleep on the table.
“Great,” he muttered. “A narcoleptic Defense teacher.”
“A what?” Peter asked.
“A narcoleptic Defense teacher.”
“What does narnol... whatever you said mean?”
“Narcoleptic- suffering from narcolepsy.”
“Oh, that’s a big help.”
“Narcolepsy- a disorder resulting in the patient suddenly and without warning falling asleep. Can be caused by genetics or head injuries.”
“That can’t be good.”
“Nope. James and Sirius are sure to make that a very bad thing indeed.”
The narcoleptic Defense teacher suddenly woke up and resumed his conversation with Professor Flitwick as though nothing had happened. Remus and Peter both knew that this was going to be an interesting year of DADA classes.
When the meal was over, including dessert, Dumbledore stood up again. “Now, if you’re not all too befuddled from over-eating, I have a few very important things to tell you.
“First, a brief reminder that no one is allowed to go into the Forbidden Forest. Students below third year are not allowed to go into Hogsmeade, and no one is to be within ten feet of the Whomping Willow.
“Magic is not to be used in the corridors between classes, as it is very dangerous to both students and staff.
“Finally, we are pleased to welcome a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Zephyr.”
There was polite applause as the plain young man stood up and nodded briefly. He looked a cheerful enough fellow, all things considered.
“I believe that is everything of importance,” Professor Dumbledore said when the applause had died down. “Now, since you will all want to be well-rested before your first day of classes, you should all go to bed. Pip pip!”
There was a scraping of benches as the entire school rose and began to go to their respective dormitories. James, Sirius and Peter were glad of the throng and were able to slip away from Remus without too much difficulty, not that the latter boy did much to stop them.
The three boys slipped out of the Great Hall and generally hung back until everyone else was gone. No one noticed that they weren’t moving upstairs... or at least, James, Sirius, and Peter thought no one had noticed.
The last person to go upstairs was a girl from their year, Lily Evans, who had decided the year before that James and Sirius were both jerks, mostly because they were arrogant trouble-makers. She glared suspiciously at James as she stalked upstairs, but James only smiled innocently and called “Good night, Evans!” at her cheerfully, while Sirius pretended to tie his shoe. The moment she was out of sight, though, the two boys slipped through another door down to the dungeons.
“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Peter asked quietly.
“Positive,” Sirius whispered. “I heard all about it at home, plus we need to pick up supplies first, and the supplies are down here.”
They moved as silently as they could, James wishing he’d brought his Invisibility cloak. Why hadn’t he thought to grab it before getting off the train?
It didn’t take long to find what they were looking for. Once they had everything they needed, Sirius led James and Peter to what appeared to be a blank wall. “Let’s set it up here,” he muttered. “Get them the moment...”
“What are you doing?” a sharp voice rang out behind them.
The three boys whirled around to see Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house, glaring at them.
“Oh, shit,” James muttered under his breath.
“Come with me,” she said. The boys had no choice but to follow her, although they dropped what supplies they could.
They were led to McGonagall’s office, where they sat down and McGonagall gave them the full “you should be in your dormitory, you know better than this” lecture. “What were you even going to do?” she finally asked.
“I really don’t think you want to know, Professor,” James answered.
“Oh, I really think I do, Potter,” she said.
“Trust me, Professor, you’re really happier not knowing,” Sirius said.
She sighed. “I probably am,” she said. “You three will get a detention for being out-of-bounds, and fifty points from Gryffindor... total. Now get up to your dormitory. The password’s ‘antidisestablishmentarianism.’”
“She let us off awful easy, didn’t she?” Peter observed as they went upstairs.
“That’s because she doesn’t know what we were going to do,” Sirius said.
“By the way,” Peter said. “I didn’t get the full plans. Exactly what were we doing with that stuff anyways?”
“You’re too young to know,” James said gravely. “Let’s leave it at that.”