The Marauders: Year Seven Part Two

University Nostradamus of London

Being that Sirius was angry with both Remus and James, and Peter wasn't exactly his favorite person to begin with, there wasn't much to see of Sirius about the Marauders' dormitory the next several days. Whenever anybody asked where he was at, James and Remus were forced to admit that hadn't hardly seen tail of Sirius, and save for the fluttering hems of his robes as he ducked out of classrooms ahead of them.

It was, however, quite evident that Sirius was keeping himself occupied in the meantime, as practical jokes were being executed with an unparalleled professionalism all over the school.

On Monday, a complex sort of switching charm had been executed on the dinner so that flavors were mixed up among the foods. Biting into a roll would give the taster a flavor of raddish, while squash might taste of gravy. Students were bewildered and unsettled as they navigated the meal, making faces and spitting out unsavory flavors that they disliked, as Sirius, Dexter, Ollie, and Wally giggled from the far end of the Gryffindor table, clutching their sides and whooping with hilarity.

Tuesday saw a series of rain showers affixed to the ceilings all over the school, including a particularly nasty one that had stuck itself in the Charms corridor, which took Flitwick over an hour to stop, and had students traversing the halls with their wands out, casting umbrella charms to stay dry. Mr. Filch was heard howling with rage, rushing about with a mop, followed by a yowling, bedraggled looking Mrs. Norris, who shook her feet with displeasure at the sodden carpets. Top it off, Peeves had taken to hovering midway through the floor where the rain had begun to pool and puddle, miming at swimming, shrieking with laughter and throwing water at the girls as they tried to sneak past. He blew great wet raspberries and told the teachers to dry up when they asked him to desist his tomfoolery.

On Wednesday it was a herd of wildly destructive creatures let loose on the school. It was a mystery all morning exactly what the creatures were to most of the students, until after Dumbledore had found one of the offending creatures stuck in the narrowest part of the Hufflepuff House Points hour glass in the Entrance Hall. "Nifflers!" he had exclaimed, and sent for Kettleburn immediately.

James felt bad docking Sirius points - not just because Sirius was his best mate but also it wasn't fair to Gryffindor that Sirius was getting into all the trouble lately and he hated that Sirius might just single-handedly be destroying their odds at winning the House Cup. But he did it nonetheless, especially on Thursday night when he and the other Gryffindors came up to the common room to find the entire common room had been upended and was now upside down. "Bloody hell, you stupid dog!" James shouted, his face res as he came at Sirius in a rage as several first years had to dive out of the way of a falling end table. "What are you thinking! Ten points."

Sirius only laughed.

"Put it right," James added in a sharp tone.

"You put it right yourself," Sirius said carelessly, and he strode off out the portrait hole.

James was angrily jabbing his wand at the furniture, attempting to unstick the permanent sticking charms Sirius had placed on the bottom of the legs of the chairs and tables, when Lily arrived and looked about in surprise. "What... what happened?"

"Sirius happened," James said through gritted teeth.

Lily frowned.

On Friday, it was quiet enough in the morning, at least. During breakfast however all three seagulls and Sirius were unaccounted for, all missing from the Gryffindor house table. James was looking about with suspicion, having no trust for Sirius after the night before. He'd spent until after two o'clock in the morning undoing the effects of the upside-down common room, even with Lily's help it'd been damned near to impossible. Even with the late hour they'd pulled, Sirius had still not come back to the common room by the time they went to bed themselves. "Where the hell is he?" James murmured, looking around with bleary eyes.