The Beginning Of An Era {A Marauders' Fanfiction}

Chapter 8: "The Prank"

As soon as they got to the Potions classroom, James and Sirius sat in a table, and Peter and Remus in the table next to them. Lily sat with Mary, and Severus Snape sat alone in the table next to Lily's. A few minutes later, Frank and Alice arrived, before Professor Slughorn entered the classroom.

Slughorn was an old but tall man, and he happened to be in charge of the Slytherin House.

"Good morning kids, I am Professor Slughorn and I will be your teacher of potions. Potions is a very useful and powerful subject, but it can be difficult. We need precision and attention to do things right. Now, today, we will learn a simple but very useful potion. It is an antidote that reverses the effects of common potions. Do any of you happens to know its ingredients?" He asked.

For a moment, no one raised their hands, because none of them bothered to open their books during vacations. Then, James noticed Lily Evans raised her hand, shyly.

Slughorn looked at her. "What's your name dear?" He asked her.

"Evans, Sir. Lily Evans." She said.

"Well, Miss Evans, what are its ingredients?" He asked.

"This antidote is made of bezoar, mistletoe berries and unicorn horns." She said.

"Very well. Five points to Gryffindor." He said.

James looked at Sirius. "Well, at least now we know who will recover all those points we will be losing." Whispered James.

Sirius chuckled and stared at Slughorn.

"Open your books to page 12 and in pairs, prepare the antidote. In the cupboard over there you will find the ingredients." Slughorn said, sitting in his desk.

James and Sirius started chatting while the others gathered the ingredients. Lily went to take hers, and noticed the boys weren't doing the class work.

"Honestly, aren't you going to work? Professor Slughorn will grade this." She said to the boys.

"We just don't feel like it." They said at the same time.

Lily rolled her eyes and went to the cupboard. Then, she returned to her desk and started reading the book, while Mary stared at Sirius very shyly.

"I think she has a thing for you." Said James, looking at Mary and then at Sirius.

Sirius smirked. "Well, she has been looking at me the entire day. It's kind of creepy." Sirius said, smirking and winking at Mary.

Mary blushed and quickly started reading her book, while the boys laughed.

"Are we going to prank Snape?" Asked Sirius.

"Well, I don't know. Do you have any ideas?" Said James, thinking.

"No... let's ask Remus and Peter." Said Sirius. Then, he threw a piece of paper to Peter, and they both went to Sirius and James' desk.

"We need your help for a prank." Said Sirius.

"Another prank? You just did one this morning! Besides, we are working now." Said Remus, going to his desk again.

"Well... I heard about one. The person can spit slugs... I think you just have to point your wand to the person and say those words..." Said Peter, excited.

James and Sirius looked at each other and smirked.

"Who gets the honors?" Asked James.

"Well, I would like to for what he said about me yesterday on the train." Said Sirius.

"Very well then. Go on." Said James, smirking.

Sirius took out his wand and pointed at Snape, who was really concentrated in his potion to notice them.

"Spit slugs!" He whispered, shaking his wand.

In a matter of seconds, the spell hit Snape's back, and then he started spiting big slugs in his cauldron.

The three boys laughed, and quickly pretended they were working. The entire class was staring at Snape and they were laughing, while Lily went to his side.

"Alright, who did this!?" Asked Slughorn, next to Snape.

Sirius and James both pretended to read, and they were trying not to laugh.

"I will take him to the hospital wing." Said Slughorn. "Please finish your potions, and next class, I want you to tell me who did this."

Snape and Slughorn left the classroom, while James and Sirius were on the ground, laughing hysterically.

"Thank you Peter." Said James, between laughs.

Peter smiled at him and went to sit next to Remus.

"Oh, that was awesome. Nice one Sirius!" Said James, patting him on the back.

After a few minutes, they stopped laughing and started working. They had 15 minutes to finish the potion, and they knew they had to work fast if they wanted a good grade. While James read out loud, Sirius gathered the ingredients, and within 10 minutes, they had finished. The potion was perfect indeed, and by the end of the hour, it was one of the best potions in the class. But of course, the best one out there was Lily's and Mary's potion, who seemed to be very clever at the subject. They all left the classroom to have a small break, and Mary and Lily stared, before leaving, at the potions.

"Well, ours was the best one Lily! You did most of the work, so congratulations." Said Mary.

Lily smiled. "Thank you Mary. But Potter's and Black's potion was excellent as well. How is that possible? They barely read anything." She said.

"Oh, they might be pranksters Lily, but they are indeed clever. The four of them are." Said Mary.

"Yeah, I suppose you are right." Muttered Lily. "Anyway, I will go to the hospital wing to check on Severus. I will see you later."

They got out of the classroom and parted their own ways, both thinking about the four boys and how much they amazed them.