Sanctuary

Chapter 8

Saturday, 4th September 1971, 8:43 am

Remus was on his way down the Grand Staircase for breakfast when a giant blue squirrel startled him by dashing past him up the bannister. He spun around to watch its progress as it continued climbing. The strange creature didn't seem to have any fur, and its skin had an odd shine to it. If forced to guess, he would say it was made from rubber. Weird. But what else would you expect in a magic school?

As he continued to descend the stairs, the sound of yelling, laughter and running feet reached his ears. He was almost at the ground floor when three Gryffindor second-years darted around the corner and passed him to run up the stairs. They were howling with laughter, and moments later an enormous, orange leopard with pink spots rounded the corner and leapt after them. Remus wondered if the animals were connected to his dorm mates sneaking out of the room the night before. They had been giggling loud enough to wake him up when they returned two hours later.

He reached the entrance hall and flattened himself against the wall. It was chaos. At least a hundred students were crowded into the space. The entrance hall was vast, so this normally wouldn't be a problem, but there were also hundreds of the strange, technicolour rubber animals bursting out of the Great Hall. Animals that were naturally small were inflated to several times their usual size. While bigger animals, like the deep purple elephant that was forcing its way out through the doors, were normal-sized. There were rubber birds in the air, dive-bombing squealing students, and rubber primates swinging from the light fixtures to land on people's heads. No one seemed to be able to enter the hall to eat, though several students were still trying.

Remus spotted Professor McGonagall attempting to herd the students back to the staircase, and Professor Dumbledore was standing off to one side watching the chaos unfold with a twinkle in his eye. The sea of students parted, and the tip of a hat bobbed its way down the path heading towards the main doors. A giant rabbit floated ahead of it, trapped in a bubble of faint yellow light. When the rabbit reached the doors, they swung open, and the light bubble vanished. The rabbit bounded away towards the forbidden forest and the watching children cheered.

'Attention, students,' Professor McGonagall said, her voice magically amplified to be heard over the commotion. 'It will take some time to clear the Great Hall. Please return to your common rooms. Breakfast will be served to you there shortly.'

Remus stayed put while he waited for the entrance hall to clear of people. As the students left the area and made room, more animals spilled from the Great Hall. The entrance hall was almost empty of people when Remus heard a series of loud thuds and looked up in time to see the four house tables, led by the teachers' table, gallop out of the hall. They charged through the throng of balloon animals, knocking them out of the way, and out into the grounds, where they pranced around on the grass, seeming to enjoy the sunshine and freedom.

Remus chuckled and batted his way through the balloon animals towards the kitchens. The prank had been impressive for a bunch of first-years. The balloons were obviously store-bought, but he had no idea how they had animated them. He reckoned he could do better though. A good prankster needed one thing if they didn't want to be caught. Allies. And preventing your fellow students from eating was not the way to win them. Also, he would do it all with his own magic. He wouldn't cheat by using store-bought items.

Remus felt a thrill of excitement. After breakfast, he would hit the library. He was bound to find something useful.

-o-o-o-o-

Sirius, James and Peter crouched in the corner of the entrance hall under the invisibility cloak with their hands over their mouths, trying to contain their laughter as they watched the house tables stampeding out through the front doors.