I, Sirius Black, Formally Declare War on the Poltergeist

Chapter 8 - The Superiority of Severus Snape

Peeves was an absolute terror. Saturday's Gobstones game didn't happen on account of neither Marlene nor Lily wanting to risk loitering around in one spot for too long. On Monday, they were the target of several large platters of eclairs on their way to Charms. The other Gryffindor girls didn't fare much better than Marlene and Lily did. So, on Tuesday, after extensive reading in the Library and a strong dedication to Professor Flitwick's class, the two of them levitated a giant bell onto his head. He was dragged down to the floor, hitting the stone with a reverberating clang. Of course, being a meta-physical/non-corporeal/confusing-bout-of-physics kind of thing, Peeves was able to phase right through the bell once he gathered himself, but it was very satisfying nonetheless.

Marlene had hoped that would be the end of it. But on Wednesday, Marlene and Lily (along with Frances and Dottie who had insisted they come along as "protection", as if they could help) never made it to the Great Hall, blocked at every turn by a trick step, or a switched staircase, or a wall of suits of armor blocking the corridor. By the end of the day, Marlene swore Lily was close to tears. A prefect had to bring them dinner.

While the number of students willing to take pity on the poor first years who were being targeted so viciously by Peeves was steadily increasing, most of their classmates were more irritated by the whole thing than anything else. Although, Marlene conceded, being in class with Marlene and Lily was certainly not easy.

The Hufflepuffs were more supportive than the rest, although there was a fair number of Ravenclaw girls who were sympathetic to their unfortunate situation.

To be fair, it was unknown to most of the student body exactly which of the Gryffindor girls had landed Peeves in such a fury. In fact, a number of more removed students merely associated Peeves' attacks with the Gryffindor first years as a whole. This was largely due to the fact that it was the Gryffindor first years who bore the brunt of the pranks.

Collatoral damage was their classmates, of course. There wasn't a first year at Hogwarts who wasn't sore of the sight of Peeves.

Some of the older students had taken it upon themselves to support the Gryffindor girls in subtle ways. Sixth year Samantha Marks always kept Frances updated on Peeves' whereabouts. Seventh year Bilius Weasley taught Lily a remarkable, and relatively simple, charm. And Prefect Kristen Halliday told Marlene herself how to get Peeves distracted: "Reflections off the wall, like from a watch or a shiny pin. I dunno what it is, but he's like a cat. It catches his eye and he can't help but look."

Marlene had borrowed Felicity Fawcett's shiny watch and Lily had sent Peeves a hot iron from behind that day. Thanks to Frances, they knew just where to find him.

But they were making no serious headway in dealing with the Poltergeist. Whatever they did, he just kept coming back, bothering them further. He didn't have any issues with who he targetted or what innocent bystanders were caught in his traps. To Peeves, collateral was of little concern.

Dottie had asserted on more than one occasion throughout the week that perhaps someone should just tell one of the Professors, but Marlene told her every time that was the absolute worst thing they could do. Lily and Frances had explained numerous times to Dottie that Peeves knew about their midnight shenanigans on the first night at Hogwarts, and given the severity of the still unknown "prank", it was highly likely they would get in a heap of trouble should any of the administration find out. Dottie had answered, numerous times, that it was highly unlikely Peeves' interest in the Gryffindor girls had gone unnoticed, and therefore probable the professors had put two and two together.

Their latest discussion in the dormitory was making Marlene's head hurt.

"But Dottie maybe all they want is definitive proof!" Lily said, "Severus said they're threatening expulsion."