The Marauders and the Year it All Began

Chapter Four: Secrets

It was early Wednesday and the Gryffindors and Slytherins were all in the dungeons listening to Professor Slughorn go on a particularly enthusiastic rant about the many uses of Dittany. One, in particular, was in the Wiggenweld Potion which they would be brewing in that class period.

"Please pair up with your table mates and begin. One of you should collect ingredients whilst the other prepares the cauldron." Professor Slughorn stated before retreating to his desk until further notice.

James was sitting with Sirius, as was custom considering how close they were and how much they talked in class. Which in full truth, was an obscene amount accumulating them several detentions per month. In potions, however, they tended to steer clear of trouble because Slughorn had a generally oblivious and kind-hearted disposition. Even if he had to lecture them once or twice, chances are the man would never hand detention out in class.

James and Sirius liked to take advantage of Slughorn in this way and took potions class as a time to taunt Severus. This class, for example, they had a plan prepared. Throughout the next hour, the boys were planning to pull a bunch of small pranks on the greasy-haired boy to get under his skin. It started small, James tripping Severus on his way back to his cauldron, causing him to spill his vial of Sloth Brain Mucus on his robes. That one passed as an accident.

The second time was still bordering the line of just being mildly annoying. Sirius hid the Boom Berry Juice so when Severus tried to find it, he spent several minutes struggling and looking around. Of course, that one passed as being a coincidence. It was not a coincidence, however, when Sirius put a few extra drops of Honeywater into Snape's cauldron. At this point, it was blatantly obvious to not only Severus but to Lily as well, what the two boys were doing. It was at that point that James decided to "accidentally" turn the heat up on Severus' cauldron causing it to explode when Snape finally snapped.

He was practically fuming when he shouted, "Would you two just shove off!" James and Sirius snickered in response.

"But we're having so much fun" James taunted.

"Why ruin our fun, Snivellus?" Sirius added in the same mocking tone as James, using the cruel nickname that never failed to get under Snape's skin. In fact, Severus was so mad that he was about to utter a hex before Lily grabbed his arm.

"Sev! Calm down!" she whispered so only he could hear. "I don't want you to get in trouble." her tone was even quieter because she didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention. Seemingly, following her orders, Snape took a deep breath and put his wand away. He scowled at James and Sirius before going back to his cauldron to restart the potion. Satisfied with the way things were now, Lily went back to her own cauldron to talk with Marlene.

That wasn't the end for this class period because even a hex wouldn't sway the plans of the two scheming Gryffindors. For the rest of Potions, they muttered insults at Snape when they walked past. By the time class was nearing its end, Snape looked as if he could kill someone. He stood, making his way over towards the Gryffindor boys when Professor Slughorn finally looked up.

"Alright, class! I am going to be walking around and checking the accuracy of your potions and then you may all clean up." he proclaimed in his normal cheery voice. Snape retreated to his table, knowing better than to take action while the teacher was watching. The remaining minutes of the class went off without an issue and when the bell finally rang. The marauders quickly left the classroom laughing about their shenanigans and already planning their next attack.

It was only 10:15 and the other first-years already knew today would be full of trouble. All had been normal until nearly three hours later when the Gryffindor first years were on their way to History of Magic. Professor Binns made History of Magic as boring as he could and had a zero-tolerance for kids not listening in class. Naturally, this meant he always had a wary eye watching the Gryffindor Boys.