InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "i believe i can fly.."

Sirius O. Black (chienderace) wrote in loremrpg,
@ 2011-03-17 03:42:00

Entry tags:

!incomplete, james potter, peter pettigrew, remus lupin, sirius black

Characters: The Marauders, bitches! Aka Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter.
Setting: 3rd Floor Charms Corridor, midnight--aka late Wednesday September 16/early Thursday September 17.
Content: SFW
Summary: The boys lay the groundwork for their latest prank.

There were lots of reasons Sirius liked doing pranks--the reactions afterward, the feeling of accomplishment, the challenge of inventing and modifying the proper spells, the risk of getting caught--but one of them was definitely the feeling of adrenaline he got as the four of them set a truly brilliant prank into motion. That adrenaline was definitely rushing through his veins now, and he had barely left the common room.

Remus was already at the Charms corridor, but the other three had to find their own way, ideally moving separately to avoid detection. Once upon a time, they could have just huddled underneath James' Cloak, but now they were really too big for that, even if Peter did turn into Wormtail and let someone carry him. The Cloak was designed for one person, and since it was James', he was using it. Peter had the Map. Sirius had his wits.

As far as he was concerned, he had gotten the best of their Marauding tools. Sirius had checked the Map before he had left, to know which corridors he ought to take special care to avoid, and then he had simply walked out, clear as day. In case there was a problem, he was going to be the decoy, too; he had made sure James knew how to perform the cloaking spell, should he be incapacitated and hauled off to bed by a Prefect, Professor, or other person of responsibility.

As it turned out, none of their limited contingency planning was necessary. Sirius, at least, made it to the corridor without incident (save hiding behind a trophy case on the sixth floor from a still-wet behind the ears set of fifth year Ravenclaw prefects who would have undoubtedly been thrilled to give him as much detention as they were authorized to give), and because he had neither Cloak nor Map to slow him down, he arrived first. Save Remus, of course. When Sirius rounded the corner, he tossed Remus a casual wave, mischievous prankster grin already set and unwavering. "Good evening, Mister Moony. How was prefect duty? Anything to report?"

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prefect_wolf
2011-03-18 02:59 am UTC (link)

Remus had been leaning up against the wall, slightly out of the way to someone not looking. He was starting to feel the familiar pump of adrenaline that came before they put their pranks into action, especially since this one relied a bit heavier on him than normal. He's definitely perfected it in practice, but the Charms corridor would be trickier since it was much larger.

He heard footsteps coming so he made to walk down the hall so it looked like he was just finishing up a round when he saw Sirius round the corner, looking like he was positively up to no good. Remus shook his head, grinning.

"Evening, Mister Padfoot. Quiet as the grave, thankfully. Last thing I needed tonight was a first year mouthing off or trying to be smart," he smirked. "Though I guess we did that a bit in our day, eh?"

It was moments like these that he wished they had several maps so they could tell where the others were and how long exactly they would be waiting. He didn't have anything to worry about, but it felt very exposed standing there like this.

"You reckon we should get started or wait?" he was twitchy, partially because he was excited to start casting the spells and partially due to the nearly full moon that was peaking in through the windows.

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1/2 (Sorry... too lazy to make it shorter!)

stagswagger
2011-03-18 03:40 am UTC (link)

It didn't feel right keeping his cloak entirely to himself. James knew how anxious Remus and Peter could get. However, with Remus on prefect duty there was a logical excuse for him to be out and about. Peter had the ability to shift into his animagus form and sneak about undetected, but the boys had decided someone needs to keep the map handy. That being said, Peter would be the most likely to actually glance at it every few seconds to make sure no one was nearby. James and Sirius were a little to careless for such things, and Remus would likely be preoccupied with making sure they didn't step too far out of bounds with this prank of theirs. Sometimes the Marauders got a bit out of control when it came to provoking a good laugh, so Remus served as their mother bird in that regard. They all contributed pretty evenly to the preparation itself, but none would deny they each had their own strengths to bring to the table. One was no more important than the next because all were required to make it blow over as smoothly as possible.

James couldn't bring himself to retire to the dormitory after his dance with Lily. He lingered as long as she did in the Great Hall, even a short deal following her retirement for the sake of keeping face. Many students wanted to know how he managed to do it. Some were still puzzled and eager to talk about how Lily responded to the show. A few girls even voiced their disdain over the fact no one had done such things for them before. As flattered as James was, and believe you me--he was proud, other things were on his mind. Lily's smile, for instance. The way she allowed him to lead her in the dance. James knew plenty about the fiery redhead, and if he knew anything at all, it was the fact she didn't take instruction from him of all people. It could have been a massive flop had she denied him the dance or even attempted to take charge in leading. Neither instance occurred, so it was a success in its entirety. Though it boosted his ego that much more, he wasn't really intent upon flaunting his feat around. He'd tackled that hurdle, and Lily had granted him reprieve. Now it was time to move forward.

With a clear conscience and an overjoyed heart, he was able to dedicate himself fully to last minute preparations. He excused himself from the remaining students in the Great Hall and made his way to the library to tear a leaf or two out of a charms book, quite literally. James had managed to have a library helper stash this restricted book in a discreet area for his viewing pleasure, so he had every intention of returning the pages when he was done with them. First things first, though! He had to master that sticking spell with the knights to ensure no one could easily best their magical prowess, and these pages would do the trick in teaching him and Peter just how to go about that.

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2/2

stagswagger
2011-03-18 03:40 am UTC (link)

He pocketed the guide prior to stopping by the Potions classroom in the dungeons, taking care to use his cloak as a means of avoiding the Arithmancy professor he'd come across along the way. After rummaging about the Potions cabinet, James finally found what he had been looking for: a vial of extra sticky paste. It was more impressive than the muggle equivalent known as superglue because it was damn near impossible to pry apart following use, let alone clean off. He planned on using the paste on the feet of the knights to secure them to the ground when all else would float upward. That was also part of the beauty of this little prank. Even if a student who had formerly used his/her wand could manage to cling to the knight to prevent floating upward, once that grip was lost the student would forfeit the wand as long as it took to get back to the start of the corridor. Some students would likely try over and over to get their wands back, only to find it was impossible with one hand holding to the knight and one hand attempting to scrape the wand away to no avail! It was too perfect. The paste would also ensure the portraits and otherwise free floating items were secured so no one would be hurt in the process of this prank, as per request of Remus himself.

James stuffed the paste under the cloak with him prior to sneaking toward the Charms corridor. He'd made it there earlier than Remus and Sirius but had decided to hide out in the Charms classroom rereading the pages torn from his library book. When Peter arrived, he'd hand them off to him to do any last minute catching up. Finally when the time arrived, James slipped his cloak back over him and moseyed out into the stretch off corridor soon to be made topsy turvy. He couldn't mask the smile on his face as he took in his surroundings, as if seeing it for the first time. Being the type of person who tended to visualize things in his mind prior to such events taking place, he was nearly beside himself with anticipation. This one certainly would prove to be incredible. Some bloke might get a peek at that girl's knickers he'd been dying to see since third year. A few students would learn what it truly meant to go without magic for a day or so, thanks to the knights. Educators would be baffled, and hopefully a few would have a proper laugh at the predicament. The Marauders would anyway!

Sneaking up behind two of his best mates, James crept slowly closer to Remus' back. At one point the floor creaked beneath him, but he simultaneously responded by wrapping his arms around the boy's torso. The invisibility cloak caused Remus' midsection to disappear briefly as James spoke slightly louder than a whisper, "Hey there, good looking. Miss me?" With that, he tossed off his invisibility cloak and wadded it up, taking care not to spill the paste he'd retrieve just earlier. "Anyone seen Pete?" he cut in again, glancing between the two boys with an already self-satisfied grin.

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prefect_wolf
2011-03-18 11:33 am UTC (link)

Remus had started wondering what exactly was keeping the pair of them when he heard the floor squeak and was suddenly grasped around the middle. Normally he wasn't a jumpy person, but at this he yelped a bit louder than he probably would have preferred. It took a second but he realized what was happening.

"Bloody hell, James?" he questioned and partially accused, trying to shake his mate off. "Brilliant, missed you terribly." He was actually managing a laugh now that the shock of wearing off. "We're still waiting for him, hopefully he's alright, yeah?"

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ex_cowardice128
2011-03-18 03:34 pm UTC (link)

At first, Peter had a pretty good idea of how he was going to get from point A to point B completely unseen. While a rat was not a particularly glamorous Animagus form, it did have its perks when it came to sneaking around. Unluckily for Peter, however, he was chosen as the one to bear the Map. Carrying the map in rat form was doable but it was difficult - he always had to be careful that his terribly sharp rat teeth didn't pierce the paper. For this reason, he ultimately decided to carry the Map by hand without resorting to his rat form for as long as he possibly could. As anxious as he was, however, Peter was a master of sneaking around. As his friends well knew, Peter could hear a twig break from a mile away as if it were gunshot directly from behind his ear. Even still, Peter's nerves persisted, resulting in shallow breathing, sweaty palms, darting eyes, and a near-stumbling hurried walk. He held the Marauders Map in front of him and glanced at it frequently as he walked. Peter sometimes felt that he'd do better without the map, as his own senses were rather sharp and the map itself mostly served to distract him. Even if the dots he had to avoid were corridors upon corridors away, Peter only had to see the names to twist a knot in his gut.

Luckily for him, though, his walk so far had been mostly uneventful. His biggest concern was Peeves, though, as he seemed to be continually narrowly avoiding the meddlesome ghost as he made his way. The last thing he wanted to do was cross paths with that poltergeist. At least he was making progress, though. He was definitely in the home stretch now and he found himself referring to the Map less and less often. But then he heard the humming. It wasn't right on top of him, but it was way too close for comfort. Panicked, Peter's speed walk came to an abrupt halt and his shoes squeaked against the flooring. Wincing at the noise, which was as loud as an airhorn in Peter's opinion, he scurried backwards and hankered down behind a suit of armor. Peter expected that Peeves might have heard the squeak of his sneaker and hurry in his direction, but the humming continued and the ghost appeared to be moving at the same pace as it was before. But it was closer now. Peter began to regret his choice of hiding place, realizing that its effectiveness would hinge entirely upon whether Peeves chose to turn left or right.

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ex_cowardice128
2011-03-18 03:34 pm UTC (link)

He pressed himself as tightly against the suit of armor and the wall as he could before transfiguring himself into the form of a rat. It wasn't a slow process, but it felt painfully slow to Peter at that time. He felt his body altering and, in the next moment, he was in rat form and apparently lost in his shirt and robe. Peter's whiskers twitched wildly and the humming grew even louder still. Quickly, Peter navigated his clothes and ran down his sleeve to seize the Map. He squeezed himself in the small space between the suit of armor and the wall, and then he waited. His eyes darted back and forth nervously and he noted that his clothes landed in a decently subtle manner, but he also knew that all it took was a swiveling glance in the suit's direction to perhaps notice a bundle of clothes at its base. Peter held the Map as firmly and carefully as he could manage in his mouth, doing his best to avoid ripping the paper but knowing that he might have to make a quick getaway and he couldn't leave it behind. Peeves finally moved into his line of vision - and then he stopped. Peeves stopped at the end of the hallway, and then he began to sing and move in a circular fashion. Was Peeves dancing?

Peter narrowed his eyes and felt his heart hammering even harder against his rat ribcage. It felt like an eternity before Peeves gave one final, dramatic twist and sank into the floor. It felt like another eternity after that before Peter unfroze himself and considered it safe to continue onward. He once again assumed his natural form and dressed hurriedly in his clothes. Draping his cloak and sweater over his arm, Peter bent briefly to pick the map up off of the floor. Looking it over, he noticed his friends clustered and staying relatively still. They were already there, all waiting for him! Peter shoved his feet into his shoes, neglecting to either put his socks on or even pick them up before he hurried down the hallway.

Finally, he rounded the corner at a fast speed and came face to face with his friends, pretty winded. Peter wasn't very much in shape at all. He put his forearm against the wall and leaned, trying to catch his breath. "Sorry," he wheezed, tugging at the collar of his t-shirt, "Peeves." Suddenly, he remembered about his wand and his eyes widened, then he began feverishly patting his cloak until he found it still safely tucked away in one of its pockets. He breathed a sigh of relief and leaned his back against the wall. "H-Have you been waiting long?" he asked, looking between the three of his friends.

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chienderace
2011-03-19 05:22 am UTC (link)

Sirius was pleased to note that he saw his own excitement written all over his mate's face. His grin only widened at that. When Remus mentioned their first year selves, Sirius had a quick response as usual. "Sure we did, but I doubt anyone we mouthed off to left after giving us a detention to go and pull a prank."

He opened his mouth to respond to Remus' question about whether they should wait or get started when he heard the floor creak, and suddenly Remus' midsection disappeared. Sirius burst out laughing at the ridiculousness; he wasn't particularly startled since he was expecting James to pull such a stunt, but the combination of Remus' face and his apparently patchwork body was well funny. Remus answered James' question about Peter while Sirius was letting his laughter die down, and as if on cue, their fourth arrived, rather winded, with a one-word explanation that was enough, frankly.

Affectionately, Sirius turned and cuffed Peter in the shoulder. "Yes, ages, the whole prank's gone to shit because you were..." He paused, to check his watch. "Four minutes late, blimey. Mr. Wormtail, you know the Marauders believe in punctuality." Ceasing his teasing, Sirius laughed again and pulled out his wand, twirling it idly between his fingers. "Let's get going, then, before we attract some other Prefect and have to resort to plan B. Prongs and Wormtail'll have to do theirs last or it'll bugger everything else. Moony ought to start, I guess--but James, didn't you say you had something to keep the portraits and knights from moving? Hop to, Prongs!"

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prefect_wolf
2011-03-19 05:54 am UTC (link)

Remus smirked at the thought of the Marauders during their first years. They had been quite a handful, but they had moved by leaps and bounds in the last few years. Their pranks from their first years literally were child's play.

After recovering from his shock of James's arrival and Peter's showing up, Remus was completely at ease. Now they could get busy setting up and watching the plan take shape. The worst part to him was standing around, waiting.

"Not long, Pete," Remus reassured him with a smile. The idea of having something to keep the portraits and knights from moving seemed like it would be much safer. After all, he never wanted anyone to get hurt. "What d'you have in mind, Prongys?"

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stagswagger
2011-03-19 07:43 am UTC (link)

James laughed along with Sirius when he mentioned how much they believed in punctuality. It didn't take any further explanation between the four of them to realize how complete and utter tripe that statement was. Bumping in to Sirius to throw off his cool twirling of the wand between his fingers, James smiled cockily prior to removing the paste from inside his robe. With his other hand he withdrew his wand to extract some paste from the vial. "This little beaut should do the trick. Remember back in third year when I had to go to the hospital wing to have Pomfrey unstick my hands? Meet the culprit, lads." James beamed down at the sticky goop, which bore a striking resemblance to puss. With that he made his way to the first of the knights to test the concoction out.

He didn't need to apply more than the size of a galleon to each of the knights feet. They were more than firmly planted. If, or rather we should say when, the given staff and faculty arrived on scene to clean up the mess, they'd find parts of the floor being uprooted along with the knights. Thanks to this little stunt there was a large possibility the decorations now surrounding them would be located in the exact same location years following their graduation. James shifted his eyes back to his fellow Marauders prior to gooping the first knight up, motioning with his hand holding the paste toward the knight. "Give it your best go to knock him over. Go on..."

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ex_cowardice128
2011-03-19 03:06 pm UTC (link)

Peter snickered along with the rest between gasps for air when Sirius joked about the Marauder's penchant for punctuality. Catching his breath always took him quite a while - he suspected that he might have an undiagnosed case of asthma. Still, he felt himself finally catching the pace for his oxygenic requirement and his heartbeat had considerably slowed and neared its normal rhythm. He wasn't on his own anymore, there was no longer any need for anxiety. He was with his friends now and, as long as he was with them, he was untouchable. Peter's worry-ridden expression gave way to one accommodating of a wide smile, now moreso excited about the prank than terrified of executing it. James began applying the concoction to the knight's feet and Peter had no doubt that it would work just as perfectly as James said it would. "That's brilliant, Prongs!" he said gleefully, rubbing his hands together both because of his excitement and because his hands were feeling especially chilly and clammy.

His smile barely faltered when James suggested that the group try to take down the knight. He, of course, was eager to please the group by following direction, but he also didn't want to bruise himself up on the suit of armor. Still, barely a hesitation could be noticed before Peter stepped up to the plate, still by far the first of the group to budge and spring to the opportunity. He approached the knight and shoved against it with his arms as hard as he could. The suit didn't budge, but Peter wasn't about to half ass his attempt. He knelt and shoved his shoulder hard against the knight's midsection, throwing all of his weight into it and wrapping his arms tightly around the knight's waist. His feet scrambled for purchase against the smooth flooring and, finding none, he was unable to put more pressure against the knight despite his red-faced efforts.

Realizing his defeat, his feet ceased scrambling and he stood, turning to face his friends, red-faced and grinning, "It's not moving, James, like you said!" He felt a thrill at his friend's triumph and couldn't wait to get the rest of the prank carried out.

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prefect_wolf
2011-03-19 04:06 pm UTC (link)

James held out the pus looking substance and Remus smiled with admiration. It was brilliant, simple and brilliant.

"Excellent, Prongs," he was quite glad for the fact that Peter stepped forward first to see if the statue could be moved. Remus would have been impressed with Peter's strength if he had managed to to move the statue, but it stuck firmly to the ground.

He took a few steps back marking a place where the anti-gravity charm would start. It would be a pretty long way to go, but he knew it was possible to make it happen without too much trouble.

"Okay, charm next and then cloaking?" he asked, his wand in his hand as he fidgeted a bit, wanting to see their reaction when it worked.

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stagswagger
2011-03-22 05:08 am UTC (link)

Taking care to cheer Peter on as he had a go at the suit of armour, James at one point offered his assistance by shoving against the upper torso of the knight while his smaller mate tackled the lower portion. When he saw Peter had straightened up again, he decided their best efforts were sufficient enough to show the paste was a sure-fire thing. "It dries up pretty quickly, Wormtail, so we'll have to get a move on. Careful not to get any on your hands." With a flick of his wand, James had the vial of paste following him as he led Peter throughout the designated strip of corridor. They worked to secure the final knight at their end before beginning on the hanging photos and other assorted wall decor. As they moseyed further down the hall to the end of the corridor where the other two knights were stashed, they repeated the process of gluing the feet down, making small talk about who they hoped to see tomorrow when the prank was unveiled. Personally James wouldn't mind with embarrassing Severus or maybe even Dolores Umbridge, but if he managed to sneak a peek at Lily's knickers in the process, it would have been an evening well spent. "Right, that should do it," he finally added, tapping his wand against the vial of paste to transfigure it in to a piece of paper. Once that was complete, James cast Incendio on the new piece of paper to be rid of the evidence and make the process of stashing the vial of paste less messy as a whole. The ashes left over from the paper mess would be swept away by house elves come morning anyway, providing the house elves could find a way to work around the anti-gravity field.

Reaching into the back pocket of his trousers, James retrieved the pages of his book from the restricted section. "Hold your hippogriffs for a second, Moony." He gave his sheets of paper a quick skim before handing them off to Peter. "Never mind. As you were. The sticking charm should probably come last." It seemed like a no-brainer, but James wasn't exactly always thinking with rationale. Every now and then it took him a second to consider the method behind their organization (or lack thereof in some cases).

James made his way back to Sirius and Remus, but he intentionally stopped within range of the future prank in order to be among the first to test it out in its early stages. "Let's have it, wolf boy!"

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prefect_wolf
2011-03-22 10:07 pm UTC (link)

Remus felt edgy and a bit fidgety as he watched Pete and James stick everything down in the corridor. Thankfully it would prevent anyone from getting seriously hurt, something Remus always tried to avoid in their pranks. He waited patiently as James skimmed the page but then gave him the go ahead.

"Glad you'll be trying it first, my head still hurts from getting stuck upside down in the Prefects' bathroom," Remus commented, smirking. "Broullum gratel." A sort of mist rippled down the hallway, making the air around them look thick and wavy, but soon it looked just as normal as before. He watched James anxiously and within a few moments his friend was hanging upside down from the ceiling.

"What d'ya think Prongs? Good enough?"

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stagswagger
2011-03-28 05:06 pm UTC (link)

"'Good enough?' Moony, you've really outdone yourself this time. It's fucking brilliant." James hopped along the ceiling, and at one point tried to cling to a nearby chandelier to help him float between the floor at the ceiling. It worked, however briefly, but to his pleasure was damn near impossible to do for an extended amount of time. James knew the aim was to keep people guessing, and if they weren't able to find a means to offset the little prank, then they'd be stuck walking through the corridor until they reached the part where the charm wore off and they'd fall to the ground. That was the plan anyway. They weren't so cruel as to simply nix the effects of the spell. It would be a gradual decline back to the floor. If the students didn't think ahead to flip around mid-air, however, they'd land on their heads. Needless to say, it would be a hilarious sight all around.

Walking closer to Remus and Sirius, James began the slow and steady descent, tucking his head when he was close to the ground in order to roll onto his back. Once he was back on the ground once more, he jumped up to his feet and dusted his trousers off. "Perfection. Padfoot, anything you'd like to add before we finish off the knights?"

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chienderace
2011-03-28 05:18 pm UTC (link)

For his part, Sirius had been mostly watching his mates do their thing. His part of the prank came later. Sirius had always had a good intuitive sense of magic, had always been able to feel it working in the air and only more so when he gained his Animagus form. He stood perfectly still, like a hound focused on a scent, as he observed the mist from Remus' charm and sensed rather than saw the magic weaving itself tightly into the space of the corridor, a slow grin growing on his face, for he could tell it was going to work even before James was turned upside down.

Of course, Sirius couldn't very well keep still for too long, especially not when James was having fun. The moment James landed, Sirius flashed him his trademark devilish grin. "Well I'd like to try it out first, of course. Can't let you have all the fun, now can I?" Without any more warning than that, Sirius leapt into the charmed part of the corridor and let himself float upwards, pretending to swim through the air as he went. He couldn't help but laugh as his hair stood on end and his vest and shirt, not tucked in, crept towards his armpits. "Wicked, Moony!" Sirius crowed, dashing along the ceiling and pushing off into a jump as he returned to the edge where he had started. Like James, he rolled rather than jumped feet-first back to the ground, because they had both learned how to fall from Quidditch.

Sirius was still grinning like a madman as he stood up and ran a hand through his hair, making sure it was back in place. "Wicked," he repeated, unnecessarily. "Go on, then, Prongs, Wormtail. Get your bit done so I can do mine and we can all go off and play innocent."

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