Priori Incantatem [HARRY POTTER FANFICTION]

Chapter 5: Pranks, Plots, and Prejudices

Chapter 5: Pranks, Plots, and Prejudices

After the now legendary Halloween feast and with no Hogsmeade weekend to look forward to until December, November at Hogwarts seemed rather dull in comparison to most of the students.

However, after the first week of November came and went, none of the students said that any longer.

It was the greatest string of pranks in Hogwarts history; it seemed there was no end to the originality, innovation, and access power of the Marauders. Nothing, nowhere, and no one was immune. Filch the caretaker seemed on the point of a nervous breakdown and many of the Slytherin first years lived in a constant state of terror. Some of the pranks the Marauders were punished for, others there wasn't enough proof to condemn them, but everyone knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Marauders were behind it. Who else had the skill, brains, and nerve to pull it off?

Since the completion of their piece de resistance, the Marauder's Map, just before Halloween, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had seemed to be able to get away with any prank they could imagine and spent more time planning and executing them than they did studying. This new level of ability and activity had only added to their legend; they were followed, stared at, and giggled over by even more of the Hogwarts female population.

Remus took this new state of affairs as calmly as he did anything else, but inside he felt slightly guilty, knowing deep down that he, a Prefect and supposed role model, was setting a very poor example indeed by spending several of his evenings in detention along with those he sent there for curfew restrictions and other minor infringements. However, Remus had had very little fun in his pre-Hogwarts existence as he had no mates to hang about with. His friendships with his fellow Marauders meant more to him than what kind of example he was setting for the first years, and, he reasoned, if he weren't in on these pranks, who would stop the others from going too far?

Peter of course was delighted with his new level of infamy. Of course, it was really only infamy by association as he and most of the school knew that he lacked the talent the other three possessed in spades, which kept Peter mostly at the level of devoted and enthusiastic admirer and lackey who did the dirty work. But Peter didn't mind his role in their little club, it was well suited to him and it was a role he played excellently. There were so many advantages to his friendships with the Marauders, and he owed them so much. By taking notice of him and befriending him, they had rescued Peter from obscurity and almost certain bullying and had elevated him to his current status as one of the most popular blokes in Hogwarts. Sure, most of the girls preferred the other three, especially James or Sirius, to him, and sometimes he got a bit jealous, but the girls weren't the most important thing.

With the Marauders, Peter received a taste of the glory he had sought his entire life, and for that, they had his loyalty.

Sirius had more devoted females flocking after him everywhere and hanging onto his every word, which luckily presented him with new opportunities, because frankly the old ones had been becoming a touch boring. This new rash of pranks, beginning with the one on Halloween, and the full moon trips to the Shrieking Shack and beyond were the only way Sirius could feel alive. Whether it was sneaking into the kitchens to spike the Cornish game hen basting liquid with Mobilibus potion, enchanting the suits of armour along the main corridor to point and laugh anytime a Slytherin walked by, or snogging a girl in Honeyduke's' store room, Sirius did it all for the same reason: the thrill. He needed to feel danger and have excitement ever present or he went stir crazy. The Marauder's Map took away virtually every barrier that stood between the Marauders and total access to Hogwarts, and Sirius was loving it.

James too was enjoying this new ultimate access to Hogwarts and planning every prank he had ever dreamed of pulling because it took his mind off of other areas that didn't come as easily to him, mainly his love life. Lily Evans was still very much on his mind, especially after he heard Frank's and Morwenna's accounts of what had happened on Halloween. James knew from Sirius just how much of a product Bellatrix was of the Black family and how psychotic she was herself. James knew firsthand how determined Bellatrix was and how vindictive when she felt herself to have been slighted. He was genuinely concerned for Lily and the others and he, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had determined to keep an eye on them. Aside from that, James' feelings for Lily were still very much present and her rejection of him was getting harder to take. He was fairly certain that he didn't want Lily just because he couldn't have her, as he had suspected at the beginning. These feelings seemed to be real, which made his situation all the more frustrating. He didn't even want to snog other girls in an attempt to forget about her as he had been able to do in his third, fourth, and fifth years. It wouldn't help, and these other girls weren't Lily, so why bother pretending?