Marauders to the End: Year One, Chapter Thirteen
TITLE: On Being Eleven Years Old and On Top of the World
FANDOM: Harry Potter
CHARACTERS: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Professor McGonagall
RATING: PG-13
WARNINGS: None
SUMMARY: The boys pull the prank of the year.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY: After the last two chapters, I felt the need to get back to stupid stuff. So I reread Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and decided to take Molly Weasley's advice.
Remus’s story had shaken James visibly. He had never stopped to think about what other peoples’ live were like. His own world was so perfect that he never took the time to wonder about it. But now he knew. He’d come down off his cloud for twenty minutes.
But he couldn’t stay down forever. Once the entire problem had been spelled out for him, and he’d had time to think it over, the less awful it sounded. Yes, it was a shock to find out one of his best friends was a werewolf, but it wasn’t anything that could destroy James’s spirit. In fact, it was rather exciting. James liked a bit of flair and drama in his life, and what was more dramatic than having a werewolf for a best friend? He wished Remus had just told them, but he understood Remus not wanting to. And now that he knew, it was something else for him to work on, just after he’d reminded everybody who was in charge of comic relief at Hogwarts.
James didn’t know if Sirius wanted to help with the prank he was planning, but he decided to ask anyways. He also thought about getting Remus and Peter in on this one. After all, they all needed some comic relief, and the more the merrier! He had his plan, and now all he had to do was get the others on board to help.
To his surprise and delight, the others were all too willing to do something to take their minds off things, even Remus, who initially disapproved, but decided to go with this one so he wouldn’t have to worry about anything else. They spent all their free time in their dormitory, practicing spells, mixing potions, and generally experimenting to get the results they wanted. This was rather complicated as the prank they were planning involved so much preparation that it would be several days at least before they could pull it off.
It was taking a long time. They only had a few minutes a day to put together the preparations, and many of them had to be done at night, under James’s Invisibility Cloak.
“Just don’t mention I was in this one when you get in trouble,” Remus whispered one night while they were “working.”
“Relax,” Sirius said. “You only have one life. You have to get detention sometimes.”
“Besides,” James said. “It’ll be worth it.”
“I note that it won’t only be Slytherins receiving this one,” Remus said.
“True,” James said. “Just make sure you’re not a victim.”
Peter looked a bit alarmed at this. He hadn’t thought about it.
“Don’t worry,” Sirius laughed. “We all know the time. We have exactly...” He checked his watch. “Thirty-six hours.”
“Yeah,” Remus muttered. “We’re up at three in the morning getting everything ready.”
“Hey, we want this to be at rush hour,” James said defensively. “Maximum effect and all.”
“Right,” Sirius said. “There’s those done. Remember your assignments tomorrow, and we’ll do the finishing touches tomorrow night.”
“Yep,” James chuckled. “And then three o’clock Friday afternoon, the fireworks begin.”
“Just be sure you’re in the Common Room by then,” Remus muttered.
Friday afternoon came much too quickly for Peter’s liking. He’d never done anything on this level before. He went along with it mostly because he didn’t want the others to think he was a chicken. He knew they trusted him. After all, they had told him about Remus, and while he didn’t like what he was told, it meant that they fully considered him one of them, and he didn’t want to ruin that by balking at a prank that was... well, mostly harmless.
The others had told him to be in the Common Room at three o’clock to avert suspicion, but Peter couldn’t help but want to see it for himself, or at least hear the reactions. After all, someone had to. So at five till three, he was walking slowly down a corridor, trying not to draw attention to himself, excitement mounting in him so high that he could hardly walk.
So it was that at three o’clock Peter heard the deafening bang, high pitched screams, and shouted oaths as every toilet in the school exploded at once.
“You think this is funny?” Professor McGonagall shouted at the four boys.
“Mildly,” Sirius answered. He wasn’t afraid of McGonagall.
“Mildly,” she repeated. “You think it’s mildly funny to create chaos, violence, and several injuries?”
“Professor...” Remus began.
“Don’t even try to talk me out of it, Mr. Lupin,” McGonagall said. “I expected better of you. You always seemed more responsible, and with everything else you have to deal with...”
Remus hung his head, his face burning. What would his mother have thought?
“So,” McGonagall continued. “Twenty-five points from Gryffindor... each... two weeks detention for all of you... I would think you two would have learned by now,” she said, looking at James and Sirius. “And I’ll be writing to all of your parents.”
One hundred points gone... well, the other Gryffindors would expect it. Detention for two weeks... not too bad, all things considered. As for the letters...
James wasn’t too worried. His mother should have expected it, what with what he got up to at home. Peter was slightly concerned, but it still wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t like he hadn’t gotten in trouble before, although this was bigger.
Sirius was terrified. His mother would love this as an excuse... he was going to have to learn some counter charms and healing spells. Even with those, he was worried that she’d give him the worst beating of his life if he didn’t make sure she forgot about the incident before the summer holidays. Maybe he could bribe Regulus to hide the letter.
Only Remus was more concerned about the other punishments. His father didn’t care. Remus doubted the old man would even read the letter. All he could think of was his last conversation with his mother...
“Be a good boy,” Beatrice told him.
Remus nodded.
“Why am I even telling you that?” she asked. “You’re always a good boy... you’d never do anything you shouldn’t...”
She’d be so disappointed now.
“Report here tonight for your first detention,” McGonagall told them.
No one would speak to them in Gryffindor tower that night. The dozen or so people who hadn’t gotten caught in it thought the prank was pretty funny, but the one hundred points from Gryffindor was not. This didn’t phase the boys too much. They knew that everyone would get over it in due time, and meanwhile, they had each other for company and a bigger problem to work out.
FANDOM: Harry Potter
CHARACTERS: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Professor McGonagall
RATING: PG-13
WARNINGS: None
SUMMARY: The boys pull the prank of the year.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY: After the last two chapters, I felt the need to get back to stupid stuff. So I reread Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and decided to take Molly Weasley's advice.
Remus’s story had shaken James visibly. He had never stopped to think about what other peoples’ live were like. His own world was so perfect that he never took the time to wonder about it. But now he knew. He’d come down off his cloud for twenty minutes.
But he couldn’t stay down forever. Once the entire problem had been spelled out for him, and he’d had time to think it over, the less awful it sounded. Yes, it was a shock to find out one of his best friends was a werewolf, but it wasn’t anything that could destroy James’s spirit. In fact, it was rather exciting. James liked a bit of flair and drama in his life, and what was more dramatic than having a werewolf for a best friend? He wished Remus had just told them, but he understood Remus not wanting to. And now that he knew, it was something else for him to work on, just after he’d reminded everybody who was in charge of comic relief at Hogwarts.
James didn’t know if Sirius wanted to help with the prank he was planning, but he decided to ask anyways. He also thought about getting Remus and Peter in on this one. After all, they all needed some comic relief, and the more the merrier! He had his plan, and now all he had to do was get the others on board to help.
To his surprise and delight, the others were all too willing to do something to take their minds off things, even Remus, who initially disapproved, but decided to go with this one so he wouldn’t have to worry about anything else. They spent all their free time in their dormitory, practicing spells, mixing potions, and generally experimenting to get the results they wanted. This was rather complicated as the prank they were planning involved so much preparation that it would be several days at least before they could pull it off.
It was taking a long time. They only had a few minutes a day to put together the preparations, and many of them had to be done at night, under James’s Invisibility Cloak.
“Just don’t mention I was in this one when you get in trouble,” Remus whispered one night while they were “working.”
“Relax,” Sirius said. “You only have one life. You have to get detention sometimes.”
“Besides,” James said. “It’ll be worth it.”
“I note that it won’t only be Slytherins receiving this one,” Remus said.
“True,” James said. “Just make sure you’re not a victim.”
Peter looked a bit alarmed at this. He hadn’t thought about it.
“Don’t worry,” Sirius laughed. “We all know the time. We have exactly...” He checked his watch. “Thirty-six hours.”
“Yeah,” Remus muttered. “We’re up at three in the morning getting everything ready.”
“Hey, we want this to be at rush hour,” James said defensively. “Maximum effect and all.”
“Right,” Sirius said. “There’s those done. Remember your assignments tomorrow, and we’ll do the finishing touches tomorrow night.”
“Yep,” James chuckled. “And then three o’clock Friday afternoon, the fireworks begin.”
“Just be sure you’re in the Common Room by then,” Remus muttered.
Friday afternoon came much too quickly for Peter’s liking. He’d never done anything on this level before. He went along with it mostly because he didn’t want the others to think he was a chicken. He knew they trusted him. After all, they had told him about Remus, and while he didn’t like what he was told, it meant that they fully considered him one of them, and he didn’t want to ruin that by balking at a prank that was... well, mostly harmless.
The others had told him to be in the Common Room at three o’clock to avert suspicion, but Peter couldn’t help but want to see it for himself, or at least hear the reactions. After all, someone had to. So at five till three, he was walking slowly down a corridor, trying not to draw attention to himself, excitement mounting in him so high that he could hardly walk.
So it was that at three o’clock Peter heard the deafening bang, high pitched screams, and shouted oaths as every toilet in the school exploded at once.
“You think this is funny?” Professor McGonagall shouted at the four boys.
“Mildly,” Sirius answered. He wasn’t afraid of McGonagall.
“Mildly,” she repeated. “You think it’s mildly funny to create chaos, violence, and several injuries?”
“Professor...” Remus began.
“Don’t even try to talk me out of it, Mr. Lupin,” McGonagall said. “I expected better of you. You always seemed more responsible, and with everything else you have to deal with...”
Remus hung his head, his face burning. What would his mother have thought?
“So,” McGonagall continued. “Twenty-five points from Gryffindor... each... two weeks detention for all of you... I would think you two would have learned by now,” she said, looking at James and Sirius. “And I’ll be writing to all of your parents.”
One hundred points gone... well, the other Gryffindors would expect it. Detention for two weeks... not too bad, all things considered. As for the letters...
James wasn’t too worried. His mother should have expected it, what with what he got up to at home. Peter was slightly concerned, but it still wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t like he hadn’t gotten in trouble before, although this was bigger.
Sirius was terrified. His mother would love this as an excuse... he was going to have to learn some counter charms and healing spells. Even with those, he was worried that she’d give him the worst beating of his life if he didn’t make sure she forgot about the incident before the summer holidays. Maybe he could bribe Regulus to hide the letter.
Only Remus was more concerned about the other punishments. His father didn’t care. Remus doubted the old man would even read the letter. All he could think of was his last conversation with his mother...
“Be a good boy,” Beatrice told him.
Remus nodded.
“Why am I even telling you that?” she asked. “You’re always a good boy... you’d never do anything you shouldn’t...”
She’d be so disappointed now.
“Report here tonight for your first detention,” McGonagall told them.
No one would speak to them in Gryffindor tower that night. The dozen or so people who hadn’t gotten caught in it thought the prank was pretty funny, but the one hundred points from Gryffindor was not. This didn’t phase the boys too much. They knew that everyone would get over it in due time, and meanwhile, they had each other for company and a bigger problem to work out.