Marauders and Snape vs. Oregon

"I'm bo-ored!" Sirius whined.

"You're always bored," Remus pointed out.

"And when he's not bored, we're usually getting detention," Peter said.

"Well, we can't do anything detention worthy while it's here," James said, flopping onto his bed.

"I would prefer if you didn't refer to me as 'it,'" Snape said, glaring.

"Well, we don't really care," Remus said. "When's it leaving, James?"

"Not until after supper when its parents come back from Edinburgh."

"I'm still bored," Sirius piped up.

"Good for you," James said, heaving a sigh. His mum had issued a strict warning that if she came up there and found out they'd killed Snape all of them would be in very serious trouble.

"What's that thing?" Remus asked, pointing to a box-like thing on James's desk.

"S'called a computer. My aunt gave it to me for my birthday, she's a big fan of Muggle stuff."

"Does it do anything?" Peter asked.

"Probably not," Snape said. "The Muggles can never do anything right."

"Shove it, Snape," the four other boys said automatically.

"She gave me a game to play on it, but I've never figured out how to make it work," James said. "I pressed the little buttons, but nothing's happened."

Peter walked to the other side of the desk. "Think this might be the problem?" he asked, holding up the plug.

"Possibly..." James said, sheepishly.

"Nice to know two years of Muggle Studies paid off," Remus said with a grin.

"Aw," Sirius said. "You know he doesn't take the class to learn anything. He does it for the study sessions with Lily."

"That's what they're studying?" Remus asked, raising his eyebrows and feigning surprise. "I thought it was anatomy." He then ducked being hit by James's pillow. "Well you two could be a little more quiet. We can hear you all the way up in the dorm."

"What?" James said, starting to turn scarlet.

"It's true, you sound like hippos wallowing in the mud," Sirius said, he was immediately pounced on by James.

"If you're quite finished," Snape said. "Pettigrew's got the damn thing working."

Welcome to the Oregon Trail!

Sirius: Thanks, happy to be here.

Snape: Speak for yourself.

You're about to begin a great adventure,

Sirius/James/Remus/Peter: Whoo-hoo!

Snape: *massages his temples*

traveling the Oregon Trail across the rugged landscape of North America.

Sirius: How? Apparition? Isn't this supposed to be a Muggle thing?

Peter: It's a game, you prat. We're pretending.

Sirius: Oh! All right then.

Your covered wagon, pulled by a team on oxen will travel from Independence, Missouri, to the fertile Willamette Valley in the Oregon Territory-

James: I'm just going to nod like all of that made sense.

-a journey of approximately 2,000 miles.

Snape: I find it hard to imagine this is anyone's idea of fun.

Remus: People in America did it all the time in the 1800s. They walked most of the way, too.

Peter: Why would anyone do that?

Remus: Any number of reasons, better farmland, a chance to start a new life, wanting to make money.

Sirius: Thank you Remus, walking encyclopedia.

Before you set off on the trail, you must register your name, the names of the members of your wagon party and your occupation. After that you'll need to buy supplies and make other important decisions.

Good luck!

James: Why do I have the feeling we'll need it...?