Marauders to the End: Year Two, Chapter Eight
TITLE: More Than Sufficient
FANDOM: Harry Potter
CHARACTERS: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, OCs.
RATING: PG-13
WARNINGS: Swearing
SUMMARY: Peter needs to learn to do Levitation. This does not go well.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY: I was just putting out crap at this point. Only two more after this before I ran out of steam.
The weeks passed and nothing happened. There was absolutely no excitement in the castle. Classes went on as usual, and in between James and Sirius alternated between Quidditch practices and researching Animagi. Remus was relieved that they weren’t causing trouble, although they talked about doing so constantly.
“Would it kill you to just live a quiet life?” Remus asked in exasperation one night as James and Sirius discussed various ways to wreak havoc in the castle.
“No,” Sirius admitted. “But what’s the fun in that?”
Remus rolled his eyes. “There’s the usual sort of mayhem to distract us already. You two don’t need to add to it.”
“What mayhem?” James asked. “I didn’t notice anything unusual except that you melted a cauldron in Potions yesterday.”
“Shut up,” Remus muttered. “How was I supposed to know that adding one extra bat lung would cause the entire thing to overheat and destroy the cauldron?”
“And the floor,” James added.
“And the chair you were using,” Sirius put in.
“And Peter’s shoes…”
“Oh, stop it,” Remus said. “Madame Promfrey said his feet will be all right tomorrow. Besides, he was just glad he didn’t have to go to Charms since Flitwick wanted him to be able to do the Levitation spell right this week…”
“How he made it to the second year without being able to do a proper Levitation spell, I’ll never know,” Sirius muttered.
“Well, he’d better have it right be next Wednesday,” James said. “Otherwise, he’ll never pass Charms this year.”
“Maybe we should go visit him,” Remus suggested, more to convince James and Sirius to do something non-destructive. “Give him some coaching.”
James and Sirius had no objection to this, so all three trooped down to the hospital wing.
Peter was in a very bad state. It wasn’t due to the pain in his feet, though Remus’s sorry attempt at potion-making had caused them to swell to about three times their usual size. It was more due to the fact that Peter had never successfully done a Levitation spell.
“I’ll never get it!” he moaned as his friends gathered around his bed.
“Sure you will,” Remus said encouragingly. “It’s easy. Swish and flick. Nothing to it.”
“Maybe for you,” Peter muttered. “But I’m not good at wrist movements!”
“What are you talking about?” Sirius asked. “You can stir a cauldron sixty-seven different ways. You should be able to swish and flick. Here.” Sirius picked Peter’s wand up from the bedside cabinet. “Go ahead. Levitate something.”
Peter took the wand and looked around. There was nothing in the immediate vicinity that looked like it could be Levitated. Madame Promfrey had bound everything that was dangerous to the floor with a Permanent Sticking Charm, and there was very little that wasn’t dangerous.
“Oh, go on,” James said in exasperation. “Here…” He pulled his glasses off and put them on the cabinet. “Levitate those.”
Peter gulped, swished and flicked as best he could and said, “Wingardium Leviosa.”
The glasses made a half-hearted attempt to rise and then fell on the floor and broke. Remus sighed and repaired them before handing them back to James.
“See?” Peter said. “I’m hopeless. There’s no way I’ll be able to do it for Professor Flitwick on Wednesday.”
“You just lack confidence,” Remus said. “You just have to keep practicing. Try my bag, it’s a little less fragile.”
“Wingardium Leviosa,” Peter said. This time, Remus’s bag lifted a few feet before dropping.
“See, you’re getting it,” Remus said encouragingly. “A little more practice is all you need. Just keep Levitating things, no one will mind.”
Peter nodded and Madame Promfrey ordered the others out.
Peter was back in class the next day, looking utterly wretched. “At least you can walk,” James pointed out, but that wasn’t much consolation.
“I kept trying,” Peter said to Remus. “And a few things worked, but I get nervous, you know, and then I mess everything up.”
“Well, just keep practicing until you aren’t nervous,” Remus said. “It’s a simple spell, really. All it takes is a bit of chutzpah.”
“What is that, some sort of disease?” Peter asked, alarmed.
“Never mind,” Remus said. “Levitate a couple of forks over dinner, that’ll fix it. And I’m hungry.”
They met James and Sirius in the Great Hall. Peter kept swishing and flicking and muttering to himself the entire time.
“Wingardium Leviosa,” he muttered. “Wingardium Leviosa. Wingardium Leviosa. Wingardium Leviosa!”
A large steak-and-kidney pie rose up and started moving slowly. Peter was so shocked that it didn’t occur to him to release the spell. No one in the hall except him and Remus seemed to notice.
“You’ve done it, Peter!” Remus gasped happily.
Peter nodded and lost his focus. The pie landed on the head of a Slytherin sixth year.
Needless to say, that did not go over well. The sixth year, swore, grabbed the nearest plate, and threw it back at the Gryffindors, not being sure who actually hit him with the pie.
The Gryffindors all ducked and the plate hit a Ravenclaw, who promptly used a Banishing spell on a tureen of very hot vegetables.
Within thirty seconds, the entire hall had dissolved into chaos. No one cared that they would probably all get detention when it was over or that they were all getting covered with everything in the Great Hall. The teachers tried in vain to restore order, but it was no use. After a custard pie hit Professor Z in the face (he was asleep again) and Professor McGonagall’s robes were completely ruined, they settled for erecting a very powerful Shield charm around the high table while they tried to stop the chaos. Several of the older students did the same.
The Marauders didn’t bother with Shield charms. They were too busy flinging everything in sight around the Hall, not caring who they hit. This was exactly the sort of excitement James and Sirius had been hoping for and there was no way they could take all the blame for this one.
“After all,” James shouted to Sirius as he ducked something that he couldn’t really identify. “When a whole chicken and a gallon of pumpkin juice come flying at you, you have to defend yourself in any way you can.”
Peter didn’t continue participating in the fight. He simply sat in his seat as all sorts of rubbish flew at him, wondering what he had started. He was almost certain that this wasn’t what Professor Flitwick had had in mind when he told Peter to practice Levitation.
Finally, Dumbledore managed to restore order to the hall by setting off several dozen fireworks in quick succession. With a wave of his wand, the Shield charm was taken down, and with another wave, the entire hall was clean. “I want to see whoever started this immediately,” he said. “The rest of you are dismissed.”
Slowly, everyone started moving toward the doors. A few at a time, the students went upstairs to their common rooms.
Peter hesitated, wondering if he should take the blame, but he knew it would be useless to hide. Dumbledore would easily discover it was him, and it wasn’t like he really meant it to happen. Professor Flitwick would testify to his motives.
As soon as everyone was gone, Peter stood and walked to the high table, his cheeks burning. He was going to be in so much trouble. Professor McGonagall’s nostrils flared dangerously.
“What were you thinking?” she asked as soon as Peter was at the front of the room. “Did you want to impress your friends or just cause trouble?”
“Please, Professor,” Peter said. “I wasn’t trying to… to cause any trouble. I was just working on my Levitating… Professor Flitwick told me I needed to have it perfect before next class… and I was aiming at one of the forks…”
“That’s true, Minerva,” Professor Flitwick squeaked. “I did tell Mr. Pettigrew to work on that spell, it’s always given him trouble. Though why he was practicing at dinner when anything could go wrong…”
“I’ve been practicing everywhere!” Peter said. “I really have. I didn’t really mean to hit anyone… it just sort of happened that way… and once I had hit him…”
Professor Dumbledore held up his hand. “I understand that you did not intend to hit Mr. Bletchley with that pie. I also understand that you need to practice your spellwork. However, Professor Flitwick is right. Dinner is not a time for magic. Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for your lack of judgment. You may go.”
Peter turned and walked out of the hall as quickly as he could. As soon as he was back in the corridor, he broke into a run.
He hadn’t gotten in too much trouble. Five points from Gryffindor… that was hardly a punishment, Remus or Lily would earn it back the next day. Lack of judgment… Remus had told him to keep practicing during dinner.
He got back to the common room and went straight to the dormitory. His friends were already waiting.
“What’s the verdict?” James asked.
“Five points,” Peter said.
Sirius began applauding. “That was brilliant, Peter!”
“It was?” Peter said, shocked.
“Hitting Bletchley with that pie and getting more excitement out of the great hall than James and I… bloody brilliant! And you didn’t even get detention!”
“I move that Peter Pettigrew be awarded the Marauder Medal of Merit,” James said grandly. “For pulling the best prank of the fall term.”
“Does this mean you’ll stop trying to come up with ways to spice up life?” Remus asked.
“Well, we certainly can’t beat a performance like that,” Sirius said. “What’d you do, feed them that story about practicing your Levitating? As if that was a beginner’s work!”
“But…”
“And the way you put us on all week!” James added. “When you were planning this all along!”
“I…”
“Three cheers for Peter the brilliantly chaotic!” Sirius called. “Hip, hip…”
“Hurray!”
“Hip, hip…”
“Hurray!”
“Hip, hip…”
“Hurray!”
After they were done cheering, James and Sirius decided to go to the library for some more books. Remus looked at Peter. “You really were just practicing, weren’t you?”
“Yes,” Peter admitted. “But I’m not going to tell them that.”
FANDOM: Harry Potter
CHARACTERS: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, OCs.
RATING: PG-13
WARNINGS: Swearing
SUMMARY: Peter needs to learn to do Levitation. This does not go well.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY: I was just putting out crap at this point. Only two more after this before I ran out of steam.
The weeks passed and nothing happened. There was absolutely no excitement in the castle. Classes went on as usual, and in between James and Sirius alternated between Quidditch practices and researching Animagi. Remus was relieved that they weren’t causing trouble, although they talked about doing so constantly.
“Would it kill you to just live a quiet life?” Remus asked in exasperation one night as James and Sirius discussed various ways to wreak havoc in the castle.
“No,” Sirius admitted. “But what’s the fun in that?”
Remus rolled his eyes. “There’s the usual sort of mayhem to distract us already. You two don’t need to add to it.”
“What mayhem?” James asked. “I didn’t notice anything unusual except that you melted a cauldron in Potions yesterday.”
“Shut up,” Remus muttered. “How was I supposed to know that adding one extra bat lung would cause the entire thing to overheat and destroy the cauldron?”
“And the floor,” James added.
“And the chair you were using,” Sirius put in.
“And Peter’s shoes…”
“Oh, stop it,” Remus said. “Madame Promfrey said his feet will be all right tomorrow. Besides, he was just glad he didn’t have to go to Charms since Flitwick wanted him to be able to do the Levitation spell right this week…”
“How he made it to the second year without being able to do a proper Levitation spell, I’ll never know,” Sirius muttered.
“Well, he’d better have it right be next Wednesday,” James said. “Otherwise, he’ll never pass Charms this year.”
“Maybe we should go visit him,” Remus suggested, more to convince James and Sirius to do something non-destructive. “Give him some coaching.”
James and Sirius had no objection to this, so all three trooped down to the hospital wing.
Peter was in a very bad state. It wasn’t due to the pain in his feet, though Remus’s sorry attempt at potion-making had caused them to swell to about three times their usual size. It was more due to the fact that Peter had never successfully done a Levitation spell.
“I’ll never get it!” he moaned as his friends gathered around his bed.
“Sure you will,” Remus said encouragingly. “It’s easy. Swish and flick. Nothing to it.”
“Maybe for you,” Peter muttered. “But I’m not good at wrist movements!”
“What are you talking about?” Sirius asked. “You can stir a cauldron sixty-seven different ways. You should be able to swish and flick. Here.” Sirius picked Peter’s wand up from the bedside cabinet. “Go ahead. Levitate something.”
Peter took the wand and looked around. There was nothing in the immediate vicinity that looked like it could be Levitated. Madame Promfrey had bound everything that was dangerous to the floor with a Permanent Sticking Charm, and there was very little that wasn’t dangerous.
“Oh, go on,” James said in exasperation. “Here…” He pulled his glasses off and put them on the cabinet. “Levitate those.”
Peter gulped, swished and flicked as best he could and said, “Wingardium Leviosa.”
The glasses made a half-hearted attempt to rise and then fell on the floor and broke. Remus sighed and repaired them before handing them back to James.
“See?” Peter said. “I’m hopeless. There’s no way I’ll be able to do it for Professor Flitwick on Wednesday.”
“You just lack confidence,” Remus said. “You just have to keep practicing. Try my bag, it’s a little less fragile.”
“Wingardium Leviosa,” Peter said. This time, Remus’s bag lifted a few feet before dropping.
“See, you’re getting it,” Remus said encouragingly. “A little more practice is all you need. Just keep Levitating things, no one will mind.”
Peter nodded and Madame Promfrey ordered the others out.
Peter was back in class the next day, looking utterly wretched. “At least you can walk,” James pointed out, but that wasn’t much consolation.
“I kept trying,” Peter said to Remus. “And a few things worked, but I get nervous, you know, and then I mess everything up.”
“Well, just keep practicing until you aren’t nervous,” Remus said. “It’s a simple spell, really. All it takes is a bit of chutzpah.”
“What is that, some sort of disease?” Peter asked, alarmed.
“Never mind,” Remus said. “Levitate a couple of forks over dinner, that’ll fix it. And I’m hungry.”
They met James and Sirius in the Great Hall. Peter kept swishing and flicking and muttering to himself the entire time.
“Wingardium Leviosa,” he muttered. “Wingardium Leviosa. Wingardium Leviosa. Wingardium Leviosa!”
A large steak-and-kidney pie rose up and started moving slowly. Peter was so shocked that it didn’t occur to him to release the spell. No one in the hall except him and Remus seemed to notice.
“You’ve done it, Peter!” Remus gasped happily.
Peter nodded and lost his focus. The pie landed on the head of a Slytherin sixth year.
Needless to say, that did not go over well. The sixth year, swore, grabbed the nearest plate, and threw it back at the Gryffindors, not being sure who actually hit him with the pie.
The Gryffindors all ducked and the plate hit a Ravenclaw, who promptly used a Banishing spell on a tureen of very hot vegetables.
Within thirty seconds, the entire hall had dissolved into chaos. No one cared that they would probably all get detention when it was over or that they were all getting covered with everything in the Great Hall. The teachers tried in vain to restore order, but it was no use. After a custard pie hit Professor Z in the face (he was asleep again) and Professor McGonagall’s robes were completely ruined, they settled for erecting a very powerful Shield charm around the high table while they tried to stop the chaos. Several of the older students did the same.
The Marauders didn’t bother with Shield charms. They were too busy flinging everything in sight around the Hall, not caring who they hit. This was exactly the sort of excitement James and Sirius had been hoping for and there was no way they could take all the blame for this one.
“After all,” James shouted to Sirius as he ducked something that he couldn’t really identify. “When a whole chicken and a gallon of pumpkin juice come flying at you, you have to defend yourself in any way you can.”
Peter didn’t continue participating in the fight. He simply sat in his seat as all sorts of rubbish flew at him, wondering what he had started. He was almost certain that this wasn’t what Professor Flitwick had had in mind when he told Peter to practice Levitation.
Finally, Dumbledore managed to restore order to the hall by setting off several dozen fireworks in quick succession. With a wave of his wand, the Shield charm was taken down, and with another wave, the entire hall was clean. “I want to see whoever started this immediately,” he said. “The rest of you are dismissed.”
Slowly, everyone started moving toward the doors. A few at a time, the students went upstairs to their common rooms.
Peter hesitated, wondering if he should take the blame, but he knew it would be useless to hide. Dumbledore would easily discover it was him, and it wasn’t like he really meant it to happen. Professor Flitwick would testify to his motives.
As soon as everyone was gone, Peter stood and walked to the high table, his cheeks burning. He was going to be in so much trouble. Professor McGonagall’s nostrils flared dangerously.
“What were you thinking?” she asked as soon as Peter was at the front of the room. “Did you want to impress your friends or just cause trouble?”
“Please, Professor,” Peter said. “I wasn’t trying to… to cause any trouble. I was just working on my Levitating… Professor Flitwick told me I needed to have it perfect before next class… and I was aiming at one of the forks…”
“That’s true, Minerva,” Professor Flitwick squeaked. “I did tell Mr. Pettigrew to work on that spell, it’s always given him trouble. Though why he was practicing at dinner when anything could go wrong…”
“I’ve been practicing everywhere!” Peter said. “I really have. I didn’t really mean to hit anyone… it just sort of happened that way… and once I had hit him…”
Professor Dumbledore held up his hand. “I understand that you did not intend to hit Mr. Bletchley with that pie. I also understand that you need to practice your spellwork. However, Professor Flitwick is right. Dinner is not a time for magic. Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for your lack of judgment. You may go.”
Peter turned and walked out of the hall as quickly as he could. As soon as he was back in the corridor, he broke into a run.
He hadn’t gotten in too much trouble. Five points from Gryffindor… that was hardly a punishment, Remus or Lily would earn it back the next day. Lack of judgment… Remus had told him to keep practicing during dinner.
He got back to the common room and went straight to the dormitory. His friends were already waiting.
“What’s the verdict?” James asked.
“Five points,” Peter said.
Sirius began applauding. “That was brilliant, Peter!”
“It was?” Peter said, shocked.
“Hitting Bletchley with that pie and getting more excitement out of the great hall than James and I… bloody brilliant! And you didn’t even get detention!”
“I move that Peter Pettigrew be awarded the Marauder Medal of Merit,” James said grandly. “For pulling the best prank of the fall term.”
“Does this mean you’ll stop trying to come up with ways to spice up life?” Remus asked.
“Well, we certainly can’t beat a performance like that,” Sirius said. “What’d you do, feed them that story about practicing your Levitating? As if that was a beginner’s work!”
“But…”
“And the way you put us on all week!” James added. “When you were planning this all along!”
“I…”
“Three cheers for Peter the brilliantly chaotic!” Sirius called. “Hip, hip…”
“Hurray!”
“Hip, hip…”
“Hurray!”
“Hip, hip…”
“Hurray!”
After they were done cheering, James and Sirius decided to go to the library for some more books. Remus looked at Peter. “You really were just practicing, weren’t you?”
“Yes,” Peter admitted. “But I’m not going to tell them that.”