Tales > Marauder Mayhem: To Prank or Be Pranked

Chapter 1: To Prank or Be Pranked

It was that time of year again. As the Hogwarts Express chugged down the tracks on its way to the Hogwarts School of Magic and Wizardry, the students inside bustled about as they met up with one another, most of them for the first time since their summer break had began.

But not all were discussing simple things such as their summer happenings. Four boys, James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter, were in deep discussion over what exactly they were going to pull on the Slytherin House member, Snape, for their first prank of the year. For you see, these four were Hogwarts infamous Marauders, the best pranksters the school had ever seen. They took the rivalry between the Gryffindor House and the Slytherin House to the next level, and almost always came out on top. And at the moment, their plans seemed to center on slugs being placed in a certain greasy Slytherin's bed that night.

Lily and Robyn, two female friends of the Marauders, rolled their eyes knowing where these conversations always led.

"Remember that you are a Prefect this year, James Potter!" Lily scolded her boyfriend. "That means you have to set an example! A GOOD example!" She added as she discarded her three cards in the game of Exploding Snap that she and Robyn were playing. She let out a sigh of relief when the pile didn't give off the plume of smoke common in the magical game.

"And it will be," James replied with a smile.

"It'll only be bad if he gets caught, Lil!" Sirius piped up cheerfully.

"You're one to talk, Sirius!" Robyn chimed in with a sigh. "Sometimes I think you're out to set an unbreakable record number of detentions in one year!"

"Awwww… come on, Birdie!" Sirius pouted. "It's fun! You wouldn't want to deprive me of fun, would you?"

"As much fun as oogling girls?" Remus asked in all seriousness.

Sirius proceeded to try to defend himself starting up a long-winded and slightly hot argument involving Robyn and a Ravenclaw girl named Alessa that Remus had been caught staring at the year before.

While all this was going on, two other friends of the rag tag pranking group were sitting by the window. Serendipity, often called Seren, was sitting on the floor with a book in hand and her phoenix by the name of Pele beside her. She was quite oblivious to the Marauders' plans and if she had tuned into to the delightful discussion, she would have been right in the thick of it. But the book in her hand had taken all her attention away from the world around her. She was reading Book Two of one of the hottest fantasy trilogies the Muggle world currently had to offer: J R R Tolkien's ‘The Lord of the Rings'. There were few copies in print but her grandparents had gifted her with the trilogy and other related stories when she stayed with them this last summer.

Sitting in the seat behind her, reading over her shoulder, was Kyle. Having read the books already, he had heard most of the Marauders' mischievous plans. But Kyle didn't usually pay attention to the pranks that the infamous four planned. He had the strict upbringing in the life of a Temple boy, and although he often appeared to be solemn, he actually tended to be quite mischievous himself. But for now, he was content to read along with her as she reached his favorite part: the battle at Helm's Deep.

All in all, the group was quite large and settled into the fact that they were about to spend another year in each other's company at Hogwarts, but one member was still missing. He was one of the more notorious members, next to Sirius, of course, and was the bane of his House members. Caith MacCalin, a Slytherin, was the member that let the pesky Marauders into the Slytherin common room to unleash their plans, much to the annoyance of his Housemates. And he chose that rather loud moment to enter the compartment.

"Hello, ladies! Oh, and you, too, Seren," Caith grinned mockingly as he stuck his head into the compartment. Lily and Robyn smiled at him from the card game while the Marauders greeted him with a quick nod and went back to arguing. Caith took the seat across from Serendipity and Kyle and frowned when she didn't look up at his approach. "What are you reading there, Seren? Yet another flowery Romance?"

"Do me a favor and go drown yourself, MacCalin," Seren retorted not looking up from the book. "If you must know, it's ‘The Two Towers' from ‘Lord of the Rings'."

"Oh, yes. The delightful wit of a witch…" Caith said to himself, knowing the insult would hit home. It did.

This time Seren looked up from her book with a full glare for the Slytherin. Caith gave her a mockingly innocent smile.

"MacCalin, if you weren't useful to some degree, I'd-" She started to threaten but didn't get a chance to finish as the Marauders suddenly jumped up. One of Peter's chocolate frogs had hopped out of their circle and onto Seren's lap. Peter quickly reached into her lap to grab it, while Seren instinctively shouted and violently smashed her elbow into poor Peter's face. The frog then jumped out of Peter's limp hand and to the other side of the compartment as Peter went down for the count.

Caith began laughing so hard that tears came to his eyes. "Careful, Seren," He clutched his chest as he tried to speak through his laughter. "Or no one will come near you! Unless they want a self-defense lesson, of course!"

"Oh, shove it, MacCalin!" Seren shouted back, then began to grumble as she went back to reading her book.

After a while things seemed to cool down as Lily cheerfully informed everyone that she could see the school in the window. They were almost there!

Seren looked up from her book with a smile and closed the book making a note of what chapter she was on.

"Finally!" She said quietly as she stretched her arms and bumped Kyle slightly. "The only sad thing is I won't be going home this Christmas break. Dad's traveling for work again and he's taking Mom with him this time."

"Hey, I'm not going home either," Kyle responded, a bit surprised that he would have someone staying there with him. "My Mom and Dad are going back to the temple this year so it was out of the question for me. Nice to know there will be someone else there for break as well." He smiled, causing Caith to roll his eyes in disgust.

"Actually there will be at least three of us," Seren smiled back at Kyle while ignoring Caith. "I've noticed that MacCalin doesn't go home for Christmas, either."

"That's because I don't have a home to return to," Caith growled at Seren and Kyle. "But thanks for bringing THAT pleasant topic up, Seren. I appreciate the reminder!" He added sarcastically, triggering yet another argument between the two the eventually ended in both sides giving the other the silent treatment.

Lily sighed loudly and rolled her eyes as she and Robyn cleaned up the cards. "And so starts another year," she sighed to herself with a slight laugh. "Those two never seem to get along." She spoke quietly so that Seren and Caith wouldn't hear.

"Maybe if we locked them in a closet together they would learn to get along," Sirius added a bit too loudly with a laugh.

"Maybe I should lock you and Snape in a closet together and see if you learn to get along!" Seren snapped back at Sirius, causing the Marauder to sputter in protest while the other three laughed.


The Marauders and co. walked into the Dining Hall and grinned with delight. The Hall was decorated beautifully, as usual, and the stars were already beginning to shine up above on the enchanted roof.

"It's time to eat!" Sirius grinned as he walked quickly towards the Gryffindor table, followed closely by the other Marauders.

"See you after the feast, Caith!" Robyn smiled as she and Lily chased after the four hungry boys.

Caith and Seren looked at each other as if they were about to say something, but then Kyle absent-mindedly took Seren by the arm and lead her towards the Gryffindor table.

Silently clenching his fists, Caith turned in the opposite direction and sat down at the Slytherin table.

Sirius sat down first, while Remus and James took seats on either side. Peter sat beside Remus at the end of the table, while Lily took her place beside James. Robyn, Kyle, and Seren quickly took the remaining three seats beside Lily.

"Hey, Kristian!" Seren smiled at other 5th year sitting beside her. "How was your summer?"

"Great!" Kristian smiled cheerily. "Yours?"

"Pretty good," Seren nodded. "But my Grandparents, who think they're ‘in', by the way, kept playing that damned disco music. And not only that, but they kept trying to set my up with the neighbor's son!"

Kristian laughed in response as a young Professor McGonagall walked towards the front of the room and laid a very old wizard's hat on a chair. It was, of course, the famous Sorting Hat, the tool used to divide the 1st Years into the respected Houses.

The Sorting proceeded without incident, although everyone seemed to notice that the Slytherin table had become noticingly larger than the other three.

"That can't be good," Sirius muttered to James as the Headmaster stood up.

"Welcome, students, to the beginning of another fine year!" Professor Dumbledore smiled kindly down on them. "As always, our beloved House-Elves have cooked up a remarkable feast, so without further ado, enjoy!"

And with a wave of his hand, the feast magically appeared on the empty plates in front of him.

"Yeeha!" Sirius grinned as he began to put on piles of food onto his plate.

Robyn stared at him wide-eyed and somewhat revolted. "That's disgusting…"

"It's what I live for!" Sirius laughed as he took a big bite out of a chicken drumstick.


There was joy in the air and no one could help but smile as friends reacquainted and comrades reunited.

At last, the glorious feast came to an end, and the leftover food magically vanished.

Professor Dumbledore stood up and the Dining Hall quickly quieted.

"Ah, what a glorious feast!" The Headmaster smiled warmly. "And what better way to enjoy it then around friends and foe alike?" He added with a twinkle in his eye as he looked at both James and Snape.

"Before you go off to your Common Rooms," Dumbledore continued, "I would like to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is, as always, off limits to those who do not wish to experience fear at its worst. Mr. Filch, our caretaker, would also like to remind you that any staying up past hours will dealt with in the severest way." There was the faintest of smiles on his lips as the Marauders looked at each other and smirked.

"Now, please follow your Prefects up to your House and enjoy your first night of the new year!" Dumbledore waved his hand, then turned to talk to Professor McGonagall.

"So we've agreed upon using the enlarged Flobberworm, right?" Remus asked.

"Right," Sirius grinned. "Poor slimeball won't be getting any sleep tonight!"

"Who are you referring to, the slugs or Snape?" James laughed.

"Oh, you boys!" Lily rolled her eyes. "Really!"

Sirius was about to argue, when Remus interrupted him.

"Oh, there's Alessa!" Remus thought out loud as he left the group to go talk to the Ravenclaw. James rolled his eyes and smiled as both Sirius and Peter began to snicker.


"Now you boys won't be harming these critters, will you?" Hagrid asked the Marauders warily. He handed them a bucket with two red and yellow slugs in the bottom of it, then looked down at the four boys with an eyebrow raised. "They are just babies."

"We'll take good care of them, Hagrid," Sirius said with a wide smile.

"They'll be warm and in good company," Remus added with a wink.

Hagrid looked down at the Marauders closely, then the large man smiled at the boys and nodded.

"You can trust us," The four chimed, then quickly ran off back towards the school, each chuckling slightly with what they had planned.

"I told you I could get the worms from him," Remus said as they walked back into the Gryffindor common room. "You didn't have to come along."

"But we wanted to!" Sirius replied quickly. "I wanted to make sure they were the right colors!" He added evilly.

"Now it's Seren's turn," James nodded as they walked through the doorway into the Common room. "There's no way I'm making the trek into the snake pit."

"And I'm ready to go!" Seren grinned while slipping James' cloak of invisibility off her shoulders and appearing in front of them.

"Took you boys long enough!" She said hotly. "I thought I was going to have to come up with something else to deliver!" She grinned as she took the bucket from them and slipped back under the cloak. "See ya soon!"


She made her way into the Slytherin common room following behind two of Lucius Malfoy's toadies, the massive Crabbe and Goyle. Easing her way past each of them without touching them was harder than she thought it would be, but she managed to get by them without giving herself away. She slowly crept up the stairs into the Fifth Year boys' dorm, noting that all the Slytherins, including Snape, were still down in the common room.

She found the greasy Slytherin's bed quick enough and had to suppress her laughter as she put the two slugs in his bed. But that wasn't enough for the first prank of the year, so she casted a spell that made them grow to nearly the size of the boy.

"Sleep well, Snapy-poo!" She whispered with a smile from beneath the cloak as she ducked back out into the hall.

She hurried back towards the Gryffindor Tower, knowing full well that it was after the hours they were allowed to be out. But then a brief shiver ran down her spin. Even though she knew she couldn't be seen, she couldn't help but feel almost as if someone were watching her.

She quickened her pace and turned her head to look behind her. She saw a long, shapeless shadow moving along behind her, so she began to run, for the shadow had nobody that she could see. She breathed a sigh of relief when she ducked through the portrait and shut the door behind her, although she could've sworn she heard a soft growl of frustration when the door latched.

"Job's done!" She reported, a bit breathless and shaky.

"What's wrong?" Robyn asked as Seren appeared in the room. She was shocked by how pale the girl appeared. "Did you almost get caught or something?"

Seren shook her head and told them about the shadow she saw in the hall and how she felt watched even while invisible.

"Oh, come on, Seren!" James smiled. "Everyone feels watched at sometime or another, ESPECIALLY while in that cloak! I should know!"

"Yeah, it was probably just Filch's cat or something," Sirius added with a yawn. "Let's get some sleep. Classes start tomorrow, after all."

"And we have to make sure to wake you up on time," Remus rolled his eyes. "So we have to get up even earlier, Padfoot." He groaned, calling Sirius by his nickname. He started up the stairs, with Sirius and Peter quickly following after.

"I still don't think it was just my imagination," Seren muttered to herself. "I know there was something there and it knew I was there, even with the cloak on!" She added as she handed the cloak back to James.

"It was nothing, Seren," Robyn assured her. "You're probably just tired. Let's just get ready for bed. The sooner we head up the sooner you can forget about it." She added as she grabbed Seren's arm and pulled her up towards the Dorms.

"For what it's worth, Seren, I felt it, too," Kyle added as he headed up with the girls, leaving James and Lily alone in the common room.

Seren gifted him with a smile as she and Robyn went into the fifth year girls' dorm.

"Good night, Seren," Kyle smiled back. "See you bright and early for a little Bludger practice!" He grinned, then headed towards his own room, smiling.

Seren quickly got ready for bed, slipping out of her robes and into her pajamas. She looked over at Robyn, who had her back to her, intent on telling the girl good night before she spotted the scars on Robyn's back. "What happened?" She asked, quite curious on why Robyn hadn't mentioned something like this on the train.

"What?" Robyn asked, somewhat startled. "Oh, uh…" Her eyes darted about the room as she slipped on her shirt and turned around to face Seren. "I uh, fell out of a tree last summer," she answered lamely, rubbing the bracelet on her wrist self-consciously.

By looking at her face, anyone could tell that she was lying, but Seren decided to keep that to herself.

"Ouch!" Kristian winced. "That must have hurt a lot!"

"It didn't feel too good, that's for sure!" Robyn added to reinforce what she said. It appeared that Kristian had decided to buy her answer, but Robyn wasn't so sure Seren would. She brushed a lock of blonde hair, streaked with red, behind her shoulder as she pulled back her sheets to get in bed.

Seren did the same but did not get in like Robyn and Kristian. Instead she growled. "MacCalin!" She swore as she stared down at the pile of dead bugs on her sheets that spelled out ‘Welcome Back'. Robyn and Kristian started to laugh as Seren cast a spell to clean them up and went to bed grumbling.

"He does this every year!" Seren growled. "How the hell does he get this stuff in here?!"

"Magic!" Kristian sniggered, sending her and Robyn into another set of giggles. Seren ignored them as she imagined the many, many ways she could end Caith's life.

"The snake dies at dawn!" She vowed as she drifted off to sleep.


Snape put down his book and yawned loudly. He stood up and walked up the stairs to get ready for bed. After changing, he quickly slipped into his bed. He stretched out and rolled to his side, coming face to side with a large, slimy, red and gold slug.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" He screamed as pushed back away from the slug and fell to the floor. "Eeewww!!!" He added as he stared at his hands and clothes, now completely covered in slime.

While the other Slytherins looked on in horror and disgust, Caith began to giggle madly.

"Awwwww…" He cooed mockingly. "Did poor Snape accidentally spray himself with his own Attract-A-Worm potion?"

"Shut up, Caith!" Snape retorted as he left the room to get cleaned up.

While the other Slytherins looked at him murderously, Caith leaned back onto his bed, still snickering to himself.


Back in the Gryffindor common room, Lily and James quietly packed their supplies up, then put the invisibility cloak over top of them as they made their way towards the exit.

"Now for some private time!" James grinned at Lily as approached the door.

"At our secret place!" Lily whispered back once they walked into the hall.

But they didn't even make it halfway down the hallway when they heard a growl behind them. They turned around slowly and saw the large lion statue that was usually placed beside the Portrait door was sniffing around! But there was something ver unusual about the lion, besides the fact that it was made out of stone and larger than any normal lion in the Muggle world.

It didn't take long for James and Lily to see what it was so odd about it. The stone lion had the wings of a bird, and instead of a regular tail it had a snake's head hissing at that end. They never noticed it before because the lion's usual position was upright, blocking its wings and snake-tail.

As they watched, the statue's head turned towards them and sniffed the air. It knew something was there, but luckily it couldn't see them.

It started stalking towards them, continuously sniffing the air. The snake's head flared out like a cobra and hissed. Lily gripped James' hand and closed her eyes in fear. It was all she could do to remain calm and keep from screaming as the giant beast grew closer and closer…