Harry Potter And The Twists Of Fate by bengpotter31
Summary: What if the fates let Harry's parents live that night he got his scar, plus gave him a younger sister and become friends with the Weasleys, especially Ron earlier. What would be different?
Rating: PG-13
Categories: Alternate Universe
Characters: None
Genres: None
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: None
Published: 2006.04.18
Updated: 2006.12.24
Harry Potter And The Twists Of Fate by bengpotter31
Chapter 12: Another New Marauder and a great prank
Author's Notes: Chapter 11: Another New Marauder and a great Prank
It wasn’t until a week later that Harry managed to get Neville alone. After a Herbology class, Neville lingered to ask Professor Sprout about something and Harry simply waited for him to come out of Greenhouse 3.
“Hey, Neville,” Harry said, “Got a minute? There’s something I need to ask you.”
“Sure, Harry,” the pudgy boy said, “What is it?”
“Well,” Harry said, lowering his voice, “You remember the strange things that happened to the Slytherins and Snape last term?”
Neville grinned, “Oh yeah, really hilarious, especially when they were pink. What about it?”
“Well, those were pranks and I happen to know who was responsible for it,” Harry said.
Neville’s grin widened, “Oh, is that so? Now, that you’ve confirmed that they were pranks, I have an idea who was responsible for them.”
Harry also grinned, “I believe you do. I knew you’d figure it out, especially with your parents both being Aurors.”
“Let me guess, Harry,” Neville said, “It’s you, Ron and his twin brothers.”
“Good guess, Nev,” Harry said, “Of course, you’re short one person from that group.”
Neville raised one eyebrow, “Who?”
Harry grinned again, “Who is one of the, if not the, smartest witch in our year?”
Both of Neville’s eyebrows rose to his hairline, “Hermione? Wow, I never would have guessed that she’d be a prankster. I thought she was a stickler for the rules.”
Harry said, “Ordinarily yes, but she understands the need for a bit of fun, harmless fun, every now and then.”
“So, why are you telling me this, Harry?” Neville asked.
“Well, I, with the agreement of the rest, wanted to know if you’d like to join our little group and get in the fun.”
“Wow,” Neville grinned again, “I sure would, Harry.”
“Great, mate,” Harry said, grinning again “Oh, by the way, we have two other new members.”
“Who are they?” Neville asked, though the look on his face seemed to hint that he had an idea who they were.
“Two first years with whom you are acquainted with already,” Harry answered, “Rose and Ginny.”
“I knew it,” Neville said, “From what I saw of those two this past summer, they’d want in on something like this. So what do you guys call yourself, I mean, you must have a name of some sort.”
“We call ourselves the New Marauders; after all, we’re just continuing the tradition of my Dad and his friends who were the original Marauders when they were here.”
“Good name,” Neville said, “so when do we start?”
“Well, I was thinking of doing something for during the Halloween Feast, something affecting the whole school, even us. I asked Rose and Ginny for ideas. We’ll probably meet for it in a couple of weeks.”
“All right, Harry. Just let me know.”
The two boys started walking back to the castle for lunch, turning their conversation to other things.
The weeks passed with the routine of classes, homework and meals. It got a bit more hectic for Harry as Oliver Wood seemed even more determined to win the Quidditch Cup. The last game the previous year between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw had taken place while Harry was unconscious in the hospital wing, thus, the Gryffindor team had lost badly.
Unfortunately, they discovered that the Slytherin team had acquired new broomsticks, the Nimbus two thousand and ones, which was better than even Harry’s Nimbus thousand that he got from his parents the previous year. This pushed Wood to schedule numerous practice sessions.
In spite of his obsessed Quidditch captain, Harry managed to get the New Marauders to meet in the first Sunday of October, in an empty classroom on the third floor, near the room where Fluffy used to be kept.
Rose showed the Marauder’s Map to the rest of the group, who were impressed with it, even Hermione, though she was suspicious of the type of magic needed to create it. The twins commented that if they had had it, they would not have been caught as much by Filch for their pranking in their first two years.
The New Marauders spent almost two hours throwing ideas back and forth for their Halloween prank. Finally deciding on what to do, Harry divided the responsibility for the different aspects of the prank. They met one more Sunday evening to finalize what would happen.
Halloween night saw the Great Hall decorated with the live bats and Hagrid’s huge pumpkins carved into lanterns. Golden plates were on the table and the Hall was lighted by hundreds of golden candles.
The students entered the Hall in high spirits and gaiety. After they had settled into their seats at their House tables, Professor Dumbledore gave a short speech then said, “Tuck in.”
The students immediately began eating the wonderful spread on the table. There were all sorts of dishes, including Harry’s favorites like steak and kidney pie. Ron, as usual, was stuffing his face. Harry noted that Ginny was eating almost as much as her brother, though with more finesse.
Near the end of the feast, candies of all sorts appeared on the table in the golden trays. As the students ate the different candies, they started to change.
The Ravenclaws turned blue with beaks for noses and yellow feathers instead of hair. Their voices became bird squawks and chirps. Some even had their feet turn into bird’s feet.
The Hufflepuffs turned yellow, grew whiskers and black and white fur on their faces and their noses became black buttons. Their voices became squeeky and high pitched.
The Slytherins’ skin turned into green scales and their hair turned into writhing snakes like medusas. When they opened their mouths, forked tongues would flick out.
The Gryffindors turned golden with reddish manes growing on their heads. They also had long lion tails. When they tried to talk, all that came out were lion roars.
Pandemonium broke out in the Great Hall as students realized what was happening. The eight Gryffindors who formed the New Marauders were laughing, their laughter disguised by lion roars.
Harry looked at the Head table to see the reactions of the teachers. Dumbledore was smiling with a twinkle in his eyes. McGonagall’s lips were pressed tightly together, but every now, there was a slight upturn of her mouth. Snape looked furious and was glaring around. Hagrid, Flitwick and Sprout were laughing hard. Filch was glaring furiously around and seemed to be muttering to himself.
After about ten minutes, the students all turned to normal and started to settle down. A large banner suddenly unfurled above the doors, which read:
YOU BY THE NEW MARAUDERS.
TRICK OR TREAT
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Most of the students were now on their feet, laughing and clapping. The exceptions, of course, were a few Slytherins like Draco Malfoy who was scowling. Harry felt an urge to bow but restrained it. He exchanged grins with Ron, Neville and the twins. Ginny and Rose were laughing hysterically. Even Hermione looked pleased.
Harry looked back at the Head table. Snape still looked mad and was now glaring at the Gryffindor table. Of course he would know who the Marauders were, having gone to school with them and been subjected to their pranks. Dumbledore stood up, a smile on his aged face.
“Well, that was quite entertaining,” he said, eyes twinkling, “I see we have a new group of pranksters in Hogwarts. I do hope they refrain from disrupting classes. Now, I’m sure you are all tired from the feast and the events of the last few minutes, so please head back to your dormitories for a good night’s rest. Good night.”
The students all got up and headed for the doors, talking and laughing. Harry and his friends managed to bunch together as they walked to Gryffindor Tower. They gradually slowed down and drifted to the rear of the crowd, allowing the other students to get ahead of them. Finally, they stopped and sneaked into an empty classroom.
Once inside, Fred drew his wand and cast a Locking and a Silencing charm on the door. Then, they all burst out into laughter.
“That was great,” Neville said, in between bursts of laughter.
“Yeah,” Ron said, grinning, “That was one of the best pranks yet.”
“And we owe it all,” Fred said.
“To our three lovely mates,” George finished.
Hermione, Ginny and Rose were now blushing.
“Yeah,” Harry said, smiling at the three girls, “you three were brilliant thinking up this stuff. “
“Well, me and Ginny just thought about what we want to happen. Hermione came up with the spells,” Rose said.
“And brilliant spells they were,” Harry said.
“Well,” Hermione said, still blushing, “you guys did a brilliant job of casting them on the sweets and tables.”
Fred and George broke into huge grins, then started bowing to the girls, saying over and over, “Thank you, thank you.” Harry, Ron and Neville, on the other hand, were blushing and smiling shyly at the compliment.
“Thanks, Hermione,” Neville said.
“Well, my fellow Marauders,” Fred said.
“It’s been a fun evening,” George said.
“But, the two of us,” Fred said.
“And our favorite seeker,” George said.
“Have practice bright and early tomorrow,” they both said, turning to Harry.
Harry scowled. Just leave it up to Wood to schedule a practice the day after a great feast.
The Marauders reluctantly left the classroom after Rose took a look at the Marauder’s Map to make sure no professors or Filch were around. They climbed the last staircase to Gryffindor Tower. Upon entering the now empty common room, they proceeded to their dormitories after bidding each other a goodnight.
Before he drifted off to sleep, Harry wondered how his team would manage to beat the Slytherin team on their speedy brooms.
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