Amulet of Time 3: The Wolf and The Pelican

Chapter 4: Snape

The evening of September 1st was a very silent affair. The teachers who still had the ability to talk were frantically trying to find a counter spell to the silencing charm placed on the entire student body. Up in Dumbledore's office, James and Sirius were being thoroughly interrogated on the matter, much to their confusion. They knew they hadn't pulled the prank but the fact that they and their two friends were the only ones who could still talk made them seem all the more suspicious. Remus and Peter had avoided blame as neither of them was magically strong enough to perform such a powerful silencing spell. James and Sirius, however, had enough power between them to pull it off.

The main problem the teachers faced was reversing the effects. As only the Heads of House and the headmaster were unaffected, anyone having lessons with any other teachers the next day would be in trouble. If the teachers couldn't speak, they couldn't teach. The students would also be unable to answer any questions in the classes with the teachers that could speak. The staff found the whole situation very frustrating.

Down in the Slytherin common room, Harry was enjoying the effects of the spell. Lucius was getting frustrated, as no-one was listening to anything he tried to say. He had resorted to writing things in the air with his wand, much like Tom Riddle had done in the Chamber of Secrets in Harry's second year. The Boy-Who-Lived was highly amused when Crabbe and Goyle merely stared at the written demands in confusion. After an hour, the miserable Malfoy headed up to the dormitories, silently grumbling to himself. Harry didn't stay up much longer himself, as he was finding it hard not to start laughing at the wildly gesturing Slytherins all trying to communicate with little success. He knew that if he started to laugh out loud, his new Housemates would realise he wasn't affected by the spell.

The next morning, Harry got up especially early and headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. There was no-one there when he arrived, but that was fine by him. He wanted to make sure he was there before the Marauders so he could see the reactions of the rest of the school when they came for breakfast. He didn't have long to wait. Soon, the rest of the Houses started to pour silently into the room. Unfortunately for the Marauders, they came down late, meaning they were some of the last to arrive. Glares met them as soon as they entered, and they slinked off to the end of the Gryffindor table without saying a word. Harry smiled at his success. He had pulled off a great prank, and he didn't even get the blame. Spotting his friends sitting around the Hall, Harry sent them a quick mental message.

~Hey, guys, how you holding up?~

~Harry! Can you lift this spell? It's getting boring not being able to have a conversation with anybody. And the teachers are looking angry~

~Really? I hadn't noticed, 'Mione~

Harry looked up at the head table and saw that most of the teachers were scowling and grumbling silently to themselves. Grinning evilly, Harry inconspicuously waved his hand again, silencing the previously unaffected teachers. Dumbledore and Professor Sewell were interrupted half way through a quiet discussion when they realised they could no longer speak. Harry averted his gaze before they realised who had cast the spell. He smiled smugly to himself. I have the whole school under my control, he thought, this could be fun…

Meanwhile, at the Hufflepuff table, Hermione was watching her friend closely. She was starting to get worried about him. In her opinion he was taking the joke a little too far, and should have ended it the night before. She would never give him away to the teachers, but she decided it would be best if she had a little chat with him later on when they met in Harry's room.

After breakfast, the four headed up to Harry's room, from where they would be heading to Corvus Corax to meet the rest of the people going with them to Diagon Alley. When they arrived, Minh and Eustace were already waiting. Harry went straight over to them and gave them each a hug.