fatal love

chapter 79

It took a week for the Hogwarts student body to relax, and when they did, the Marauders were ready.

"Lads," James said to the dorm room one evening, "I think it's time."

"Too right, Prongs," Sirius grinned. "Let's cause some mischief."

The four of them snuck out to the Great Lake as soon as midnight had passed, and the prefects on their rounds would have gone to bed, and cast the spell they had been working on all week. It took all four of them to cast it big enough, and slowly, trying to be quiet, they moved to the Entrance Hall.

"It will definitely hold?" Pete asked as they surveyed their work.

"Yep," Remus said, "hopefully it doesn't get moved back before people see it."

Sirius laughed. "It took four of us to move it, and we've covered it in protective charms now. I think it will take the professors a while."

James yawned. "Back to bed, then?" he suggested. "Before we get caught."

When Sirius awoke the next morning, he heard shouting coming from the Common Room.

In the Entrance Hall!

How the bloody hell did it get there?

Who do you think it was?

The Marauders, obviously. No one else would do something like this.

Get outta the way, I wanna see it!

Sirius grinned. "Up we get, boys!" he called happily. "I think our work is being appreciated!"

The other three groaned, but didn't waste any time in getting dressed and hurrying out of their dorm.

"You lot are bloody crazy!" Marlene yelled at them as they ran through the Common Room, and Sirius flashed her a thumbs up. When they reached the Entrance Hall, they had to fight their way through a huge crowd of students, clamouring to the front.

The Giant Squid was floating in the middle of the hall, bobbing quite happily in a ball of water. McGonagall, Flitwick, and Slughorn were all pointing their wands at it, obviously trying to move it back to the Great Lake, but to no avail.

McGonagall spotted them immediately. "You four!" she hissed, storming over to them. "You did this!"

Not even Remus bothered with trying to get away with it anymore. They all just smiled at her angelically.

"It was lonely, Professor!" Pete exclaimed. "We thought it could do with some company!"

McGonagall's lips twitched, but she managed to keep her stony expression. "After consulting Professor Flitwick, I believe this is another spell invention of yours."

Remus handed her a few rolls of parchment. "That's the spell, it's got all our working out on it and everything."

"We call it the Reverse Bubblehead Charm," James grinned.

"No we don't," Sirius argued. "It's the Bubblesquid Charm."

"No, we said that sounded stup-"

"Whatever it's called," McGonagall interrupted. "It's a break of school rules. Though obviously you four already know that." She sighed. "Detention for two weeks. Now go and have breakfast, it's too early to bother telling you off."

A few days later, and the Marauders had sufficiently reminded the school that their pranks would never end. People wouldn't stop talking about how they had managed to move the Giant Squid into the Entrance Hall, or which of them had come up with the idea, or, in the case of some Hufflepuffs, why they would even do that. The last question was the only one that any of them deigned to answer. Because it was funny. Duh.