The Marauders: Year One | #Wattys2016

The Prefect's Toilet

The Prefect's Toilet

"Oi watch where you're stepping, Peter!"

"That's my toes now you're on!"

"Ouch - blimey."

The four of them together only just fit beneath the invisibility cloak, especially since Peter was clumsy and kept tripping over the other boys and stepping on their feet. James clutched the cloth, in the lead, squinting through the dark. Sirius was watching ahead for any signs of Peeves, Filch, Mrs. Norris, or any of the teachers, but the corridors were mercifully empty.

They made their way through the stairs, whose revolutions they'd basically memorized by now, and quietly crept along to the top of the staircase leading to the entrance hall. Moonlight pooled through the high windows and Peter glanced at Remus, a shiver going down his spine, afraid the moonlight might effect him as they climbed down the steps to the hall. But it wasn't a full moon, so of course Peter's worries were for naught, though in retrospect a werewolf may have been easier to deal with than what they were about to face...

Down the grimey steps to the dungeons, they moved as quietly as they could, all huddled together nervously, the dark walls seeming to loom over them. The paintings on the walls down here were of a darker nature than the ones in higher halls, and their occupants seemed to be watching them, despite the cloak. They passed the potions classroom and Slughorn's office and came to the stretch of corridor where Remus had seen Tutman, Malfoy, and Snape. They came to a stop, hovering against the wall.

"Alright," whispered James, "Which door is it?"

Remus pointed.

James shrugged out from beneath the cloak and walked over to the prefect's toilet door and pressed his wand to the lock. "Alohamora!" His voice seemed loud, even though it was barely above a whisper. Nothing happened. He frowned at the door.

"You need a password for a prefect's toilet," Peter hissed.

Sirius tossed the cloak off of himself as well and hurried over to the door to join James. "It's the Slytherins," he said confidently, "How hard can their password be? They aren't very bright, are they?" He turned to the door. "Snakes! Pureblood!"

"Unlock!" James tried, "Err - Password!"

"Slytherin!" Sirius tried, "Slughorn - err - oh, I know, Salazar!"

There were a series of clicks and James looked at Sirius with wide, excited eyes. Remus and Peter lifted the cloak off themselves and Remus folded it into his pocket as Peter scrambled to join James and Sirius at the door of the prefect's toilet. They stood before it, staring up at the door, excitement rushing through their veins.

"We did it," whispered Sirius.

"Blimey," mumbled James.

Peter trembled.

"Well," said Remus, voice shaky, "Shall we?"

Sirius nodded and reached for the handle. "Wait," said James. "Wands out. We should be ready in case there's something horrible in there."

"Like the Dark Lord?" asked Sirius, with a slightly nervous air of sarcasm.

"Wh- what good are our wands going to do against - against the D- D- Dark Lord?" Peter quivered.

James rolled his eyes, "Well, we have a werewolf, don't we? He hasn't got one of those." He smiled at Remus.

"It's not the full moon mate," said Remus, "I'm afraid I'd be of little use tonight."

Sirius pushed the door open quite suddenly, sick of the anticipation that was building up already. The door swung open and inside there was utter darkness. He glanced at the other three, then took a timid step forward. "No lanterns," he said, "It's quite dark... I can't see a thing."

"Lumos," said Remus and his wand tip ignited, glowing pale light filled the corners of the toilet.

"Handy," said James, impressed.

Sirius waved his wand, "Lumos," he mimicked Remus and his wand lit up too. The others did as well. The little room was quite bright now and they glanced around. The walls were still dark and plain, a painting of the giant squid eating a ship on black water adorned one wall and a deep inset bath filled the floor, though it was large enough it could have been mistaken for a swimming pool. Other wise, it was an utterly boring, typical looking toilet. The boys lowered their wands.

"Nothing," said Remus, confused.

"Maybe they decided not to do whatever it was anymore since you'd caught them," Peter suggested, calming down as he saw there wasn't anything going on in the bathroom.

"Maybe," Remus said, but he wasn't convinced. It seemed far more likely that they were missing something, or overlooking it. He waved his wand about, looking around the room.

James was near one of the walls, "Look at this," he said. He was kneeling on the floor in the corner. Sirius hurried over to see what James was holding up. It was what looked like a piece of broken mirror glass, which he'd picked up from the floor. There was a piece of the same shape missing from the corner of the wall. But the most peculiar thing about it was that as James looked into the piece in his hand, it reflected his face as a normal mirror would, but the wall was not reflecting a thing.

Sirius looked up at the wall, "It's a mirror? Why doesn't it reflect?" he asked, confused. Remus took the piece from James's hand and pressed it into the space that was missing it on the wall. It fit perfectly. He looked at James and Sirius with confusion. "Strange..."

They were so distracted that they'd managed to not hear Peter stammering frantically behind them. Managed not to notice the slight change in the mirror over their heads as a beady, red eye peered down. "G- g - guys... Guys... G - g - guys," Peter whimpered.

James touched his palm to the mirror on the wall. "Even when you touch it... Nothing. Even glass would reflect this close up."

"Where's the reflection going?" Sirius mused.

A raspy, high voice that was none of their own spoke, seeming to come from the very walls around them. "Where indeed?"

They looked up and saw a cloaked figure, whose features were obscured by the darkness his cloak afforded him, staring back at them from the mirror. The three boys jumped back from the mirror quickly, and joined Peter several steps back, all huddled together.

Suddenly the door opened to their side and Lucius Malfoy came in, his cloak and pyjamas waving around his ankles. He was breathless, he'd just run all the way from the Slytherin common room to get there, the Dark Mark on his forearm still hot from the Dark Lord summonsing him. He clutched the door frame, panting, and his eyes swept from the reflection in the mirror to the four boys huddled in the middle of the room.

"Get them, you idiot!" The Dark Lord snapped.

"Yes my Lord!" Lucius shouted as he leaped at them.

Thinking fast, James shoved the other three down and ducked out of the way himself. Peter teetered on the edge of the bath and fell in with a shriek and a splash of water as the others ran for the hall. Lucius Malfoy just barely caught himself from tumbling in after Peter, and rounded quickly to try to catch the other three in the corridor.

Peter struggled to swim to the edge and pull himself out of the pool, sopping wet. Lucius had already rushed into the corridor after James, Sirius, and Remus. Shaking water from himself, Peter collected his wand from the floor, where it had fallen. The wand had gone out as it fell from his hands and the room was pitch black now, except for the rectangle of light the open door cast on the floor, so it took Peter a moment to find it.

"Your friends have left you, Peter Pettigrew," hissed the voice from the mirror. "Most interesting. Where do their loyalties lie?"

Peter grabbed hold of his wand quickly and ran like he had never done before, nearly slamming into the wall as he went, the sound of the chilling laughter echoing from the mirror coming from behind.