Up To No Good

Chapter Six

"Professor."

Professor Slughorn looked up from his desk, his bald patch shining from the sunshine coming in the window. Peter clutched a small slip of paper in his hand and a box of crystallized pineapple in the other. The rest of the Marauders, which was a moniker that seemed to stick pretty well for them, were waiting down in the Great Hall.

"Yes, Mr. Pettigrew." He narrowed his eyes slightly at the box of pineapple, but then returned his gaze to Peter. "What brings you to my office?"

"Well firstly, sir, I wanted to give you this." Peter handed him the box, smiling a bit sheepishly.

"My boy, I'm not going to be bribed, if that's what you're here for."

"Not at all, sir." Peter held out the piece of paper. "I just wanted to know if you could give me a signature so I could visit the Restricted Section. There's a topic that I wanted to research."

Slughorn took the slip of paper, eyeing it suspiciously. "I don't know what that means, Mr. Pettigrew... What sort of topic?"

"Well..." Peter swallowed. "Professor McGonagall was talking about organic transformations, and I was quite interested in the subject."

"Well, I suppose there could be no hurt... I shall sign it." Slughorn picked up his quill before signing the slip. Peter's eyes shined as he thanked him before running down to the Great Hall. Now all they had left to do was find the book.

They handed the slip to Madam Pince the librarian, who took it without a word and shuffled away. Sirius led the way to where they had found the book about lycanthropy. Remus was quite silent as they made their way behind rows of battered shelves, searching through the different books' spines.

"There are some really gruesome books in here," Remus muttered unpleasantly, glaring at a copy of Magick Moste Evile. "I don't like it."

"Calm down, Moony, we're here legally," James answered jovially.

Remus laughed again at this. "Moony," he repeated.

Sirius found the book they had been reading from the night before, Rare Transformations of the Human Kind, and opened it to the page featuring lycanthropy. The pictures were even worse in full color.

"Does it say anything about weaknesses?" Peter put in.

"That's not what we're looking for," James reminded him. "Just whatever isn't dangerous to him."

"Look! Remember this? Werewolves aren't dangerous to animals!" Sirius cried, pointing out the sentence where it said so. "You know how Professor McGonagall can turn into a cat? What is that called?"

There was a brief silence as they struggled to remember.

"An Animagus," Remus remembered joyfully. "Oh... But like I said, that's bound to be really advanced magic."

"How hard can magic get?" James cut in. "It shouldn't be too difficult. Let's see if there's a book that says anything on it."

"Alright then. Ooh, look at this copy of Acquired Magical Skill: Legilimency, Occlumency, The Fidelius Charm, and More. I wonder if it has anything about Animagi in it." Sirius picked it gingerly off the shelf. It was a huge, leather-bound book that smelled musty. When he set it on the floor it fell with a clunk.

"A... A... Animagi." He found it within the index and propped it open to a page stuck together from age. He looked up at the other boys as they stared down at him. "I read last time, Potter, it's your turn," he chuckled.

James rolled his eyes before switching seats with Sirius. The page was like a lot of the others in the Restricted Section: tiny text that was difficult to read, with detailed, gory illustrations that he wished to put out of his mind.