Musical Notes

CHAPTER THREE

Monday, October 11

-I'm still confused. Could you explain it once more?

-Do you realize how much parchment we're wasting explaining this to you, Wormtail?

-I'm sorry, Padfoot, I just don't understand.

-Fine, I'll explain it just once more. So all four of us are going to wait until the common room is completely empty, th--

-Won't that be past midnight?

-I've told you before, now don't grab the parchment while I'm writing, or I will eat you next full moon.

-I'm sorry! Please don't eat me!

-No one's going to eat anybody, right Padfoot?

-I suppose you're right, Moony. He would taste awful, wouldn't he?

-Don't give Moony any ideas, Padfoot.

-Yes, Prongs, because you know how many times I've gone after Wormtail during our little "moonlit outings."

-You have?!

-One of these days, we're going to have to teach Wormtail the concept of sarcasm. Anyways, like I was saying, we wait until the common room is empty, then we can start the plan. Wormtail--- you and Moony will stay in the common room and keep watch. You both try and distract anyone trying to go up to the girls' dormitories. Demeter, that friend of Evans', has been sneaking off to the Astronomy Tower a lot lately, I've noticed.

-Padfoot, do I even want to know how you know that?

-I was hungry one night, so I snuck down to the kitchens. See Moony, I'm innocent!

-Except that the Astronomy Tower is about as far away as you can get from the kitchens.

-I took a detour, all right? It doesn't matter; just don't let her come up to her dorm. And while you two are keeping watch, Prongs and I'll go up to the Evans' dorm and put that Cantorecio Curse on her. Then the next day, we'll get to see Ms. Perfect's singing ability. I hope she's never had a singing lesson in her life...

-It's so neat that the curse makes her sing!

-It's not just "neat," Wormtail! It's bloody brilliant! Whoever thought of a curse that makes people sing whenever they try to talk is a genius!

-I think I've got it now. You're plan is perfect, Padfoot!

-I know.

-Sure, Padfoot. Now, you and Prongs are going to practice the curse tonight, right? So that you'll know exactly how to perform the curse without botching it up when you curse Lily?

-Yes Moony, but what are we going to do if we mess up the curse tonight and one of us ends up without a hand or something?

-Prongs, you're never going to let me forget that, are you?

-If you had had to spend a night in the Hospital Wing re-growing one of your hands, would you let me forget it, Padfoot?

-I guess not, but I was just trying to Disarm you during that practice duel. I promise! I didn't mean to un-hand you, I swear!

-And you still blame it on a fly?

-The bloody thing flew into my eye while I was trying to say the spell! You'd've done the same thing.

-Look, its over, Prongs got his hand back, he punched Padfoot with it, and you called it even, remember?

-Yeah, I remember. I had a black eye for a month.

-And as for what to do if anything odd happens to the person whom the curse is placed on, just tell Madam Pomfrey that you were dueling. She'll believe it. The only other thing you guys might want to think about before you put the curse on Lily is how you're going to get past the trick staircase that leads to the girls' dormitories. I seem to remember James trying to run after Lily last year when she was going back up to the dorm-

-Oh yeah, the staircase turned into a slide, and after Lily landed on Prongs, she punched him right in the nose!

-You're going to get punched in the nose too if you don't shut up, Padfoot. But really, Moony has a point. What are we going to do about the staircase?

-No need to worry, Prongs. I found a charm in a book that makes trick staircases normal for a little while.

-Padfoot actually cracked a book? Now there's a first.

-Stuff it, Moony.

-Moving right along, does anyone know what Professor Dipstick has been talking about?

-Isn't her name Professor Delphi?

-Humor flies right over Wormtail's head, doesn't it?

-Why don't you ask one of our other classmates after class ends, Prongs? I'm pretty sure none of us here has been paying attention.

-That's ridiculous Moony. We can just ask Professor Delphi now!

-I don't think that's a very good idea, Padfoot-

But Remus was too late. Before he had even finished scrawling out his warning, Sirius had raised his hand high in the air, and had begun waving it back and forth, trying to catch the attention of Professor Delphi. Remus threw his quill at Sirius in a last-ditch attempt to divert him from asking the question, but it missed and disappeared into a sea of bookbags on the floor.

In the meantime, Professor Delphi had at last noticed Sirius' continuously waving hand. She looked rather ruffled at being interrupted, while James looked amused, and Peter seemed to be excited. Remus sighed deeply and leaned back in his chair, resigned to the inevitable.

"May I help you, Mr. Black?" the professor questioned Sirius. It sounded as though she would have preferred not to hear his response.

"Yes," Sirius replied in a crisp, confident voice, "I was wondering what you have been talking about."

You could have heard a wand drop in the silence that accompanied this statement. Professor Delphi stared disbelievingly at Sirius as the color rose in her face. James was shaking with suppressed laughter, Remus appeared to be striving not to grin at his friend's foolishness, Peter seemed awed at Sirius' daring, and Sirius himself looked as though nothing had happened.

Professor Delphi regained the ability to talk after a minute of shock. "Are you trying to tell me that you haven't been listening to anything I've said in the last hour?" she whispered menacingly to Sirius, who nodded in response, something he undoubtedly should not have done. The professor seemed to be trying to regain composure, but her magenta face gave away her true feelings. "Would you mind telling me why you are the only student in this room who has no idea what's going on?"

"Actually Professor," James burst out, not willing to let his friend suffer alone, "I haven't been paying attention either."

Professor Delphi's anger had hit the boiling point, and James and Sirius, unfortunately, were the targets of her upcoming tirade. "I HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH DISRESPECTFUL STUDENTS!! YOU WILL NEVER GET ANYHERE IN LIFE IF THIS CONTINUES!! YOU ARE THE MOST-"

At the professor continued berating Sirius and James for their lack of attention, one of the bewitched dream catchers swooped down so that it was positioned right behind her head, facing the class. Professor Delphi began to rant about disobedient students, while the web part of the dream catcher ordered the students to go perform several physically impossible tasks. Remus was now sitting with his elbow on the table and his hand covering his mouth, trying to keep from bursting into uncontrolled fits of laughter. Peter was frantically scribbling down the words displayed by the dream catcher, figuring that they might be of some use to him later. James and Sirius, however, were attempting to look forlorn and helpless and trying to keep from laughing at the same time, while Professor Delphi proceeded to lecture them about proper student behavior. The results of these attempts were identical looks suggesting that they had just swallowed some particularly sour lemons.

Suddenly, the bell clanged loudly, signaling the end of Divination. The Marauders dived for their possessions and ran flat out to the trap door before the professor could give them detention. When they were positive they were out of hearing range, they stopped at one of the colorful moving portraits that lined the corridors leading to the Divination tower and burst into howls of laughter.

"Did you see the look on her face when I said I hadn't been paying attention either?!" James wheezed between frequent outbursts of chuckles.

"And that dream catcher!" Sirius exclaimed, sending Remus, James, and himself into renewed fits of laughter. James and Sirius were leaning against the wall for support, while Remus was bent double, clutching his stomach with his eyes squeezed shut and great bursts of laughter issuing from his mouth between giant gasps for air. Peter was memorizing the notes he had jotted down when the dream catcher was giving its orders.

"Stand up and fight, you many mongrels!" demanded the image of Sir Cadegon from his portrait, which was being leaned upon by James and Sirius. They leapt forward in surprise, and watched as a slightly squished looking knight brandished a silver sword at them.

Remus, who seemed to have regained the ability to stand up relatively straight, replied with his voice filled with mirth, "Oh, that's not very fair, is it? Sirius and I are the only mangy ones around here!"

"How's that?" Sirius asked Remus, looking thoroughly bemused.

"We're the only ones who have had fleas," he whispered, his voice cracking as he, Sirius, and James began again to laugh hysterically.

"Hey Moony," Peter joined in the laughter, "you really should, er, stick you head up your--"

The inevitable finale of Peter's statement was fortunately drowned out by the renewed hoots of laughter emitting from Remus, James, and Sirius. The threesome began stumbling down the hall like drunkards, banging into walls and snorting with laughter. Peter followed them, smiling weakly but looking slightly crestfallen.

* * *

"All right, you're sure that everything's ready?" Remus questioned Sirius and James for the tenth time in five minutes as he twirled his wand between his fingers nervously. The four friends were standing in the middle of their circular dorm room, preparing to practice the curse to be placed on Lily for the first time.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You worry too much, Moony," he sighed exasperatedly. "I promise, nothing bad is going to happen. And for James' sake, I cleared the room of all flies," Sirius smirked at James, who looked completely unamused.

"How thoughtful," he mumbled flatly as he glared at Sirius. Sirius' smirk quickly changed into a broad grin at the sight of James' hazel eyes peering at him over a pair of round glasses.

Sirius replied pompously, "Never let it be said that I don't do anything nice for my fellow Marauders. Now, who's going to soundproof the room so no one will wonder why we're singing in here?" he inquired.

"I'll do it," Remus volunteered immediately, not willing to allow anyone but himself perform the rather complex spell. He strode quickly to the door, where he proceeded to mutter the spell (it sounded something like midoghazflees) and wave his wand in a series of complicated motions. When the sound-proofing process was complete, Remus wandered over to Sirius' bed and slouched down next to Peter. "So, who wants to sing first?"

"I'll do the curse first," James rushed to say, "just in case I'm unable to move after Padfoot puts the wrong curse on me again." James sent a withering glare in Sirius' direction. Judging by his stubborn expression, however, Sirius was pretending not to have heard the final part of James' statement.

"All right then," Remus said into the silence. "Now after you have the curse put on you, Padfoot, you need to drink this potion," Remus indicated the small black cauldron containing a slowly bubbling greenish substance.

Sirius wrinkled his nose in disgust as he peered into the cauldron. "Why do I have to drink that?" he asked Remus.

Remus began coldly, "First of all, the curse lasts for an entire twenty-four hours, and I didn't think you'd fancy explaining to the professors why you're singing. Secondly, I spent two days brewing this potions for you all, and thirdly, I will hurt you if you don't."

"All right, all right, I'll drink it," Sirius surrendered, though he didn't sound particularly thrilled with the idea of putting that in his mouth. He moved away from the cauldron to face James, who was standing with his wand held loosely in his hand. They stood with approximately eight feet of floor space between them. Sirius took out his own wand from the deep pocket of his Hogwarts robes, shook his dark hair out of his eyes, and took a deep breath.

Remus reminded James anxiously, "Remember, the spell is 'Concertar,' and you don't swish your wand, it's more of a jab-"

"-I know Remus!" James exclaimed. "We've been over this a hundred times already."

"Sounds like someone's a little jumpy," Sirius smirked. "Is ickle Jamesie-wamsie a wittle nervous?" He cackled in amusement as James let forth a stream of mixed hexes and cuss words.

"Aw James, you know I didn't mean it," Sirius said. "Okay, let's get started."

James, though obviously still disgruntled, nodded. "On the count of three?"

"Yeah, I guess so, "Sirius replied, slightly worried that James would use this as an opportunity to avenge the brief loss of his hand and the recent insult.

"Fine then," James said crisply. "Here it goes. One. Two. Three! Concertar!" James shouted, jabbing his wand at Sirius. A silver mist of sparks issued from the wand, aimed at Sirius' neck. Sirius stood his ground as the sparks flew toward him, though he did wonder whether or not the curse was supposed to go to his neck.

Then, as suddenly as the sparks had appeared, they were gone. Everyone was silent as they observed Sirius. Sirius was staring blankly at his friends as if to say, "Now what?"

"Try to say something," whispered a wide-eyed Peter. Remus, who was standing next to Peter, nodded and continued spinning his wand between his fingers.

Sirius straightened up as he opened his mouth widely. All eyes were upon him. "WE CAN DO IT, WE CAN DO IT!" Sirius sang in a confident, deafeningly loud voice. The remaining occupants of the room jumped several feet into the air with their hands covering their ears. Sirius beamed at the reaction.

Peter rushed to James' side and squeaked, "Good job Prongs!" James threw back his head and ran his fingers through his messy hair at this compliment.

"Yes, well done, Prongs," said Remus, looking relieved as he moved toward the cauldron. "Padfoot, come here. You need to drink this now," he said to Sirius while he ladled the contents of the cauldron into a small glass. Sirius, his smile having faded slightly, strode over to Remus and grabbed the glass. After a moment of staring into the substance, he squeezed his eyes shut and brought the cup to his lips. He gulped the drink, and the glass was empty within seconds. Sirius lowered the cup looking slightly surprised.

"Mmm, cinnamon flavored," he said to no one in particular. Everyone grinned, and soon James and Sirius were preparing to practice the curse again.

"Now you get to watch the master at work," Sirius proclaimed pompously as he strutted back to his place. Seconds later, he was lying flat on his face, having been on the receiving end of James' Tripping Curse.

"Just get on with it," James said, glaring at Sirius with his wand raised. Sirius stuck out his tongue at his best friend, thereby turning James' frown into a wide grin.

Sirius, also grinning, replied as he got to his feet. "All right then. One. Two. Three! Concerto!" he exclaimed waving his wand at James. There was an abrupt flash of white light, and someone yelled, "NO!" As the light faded, an unusual scene was reveled to Sirius. James was lying on the floor with his eyes closed. Remus was sitting on the floor next to him with his head buried in his hands. Peter was standing behind Remus, looking worried. Sirius quickly walked to where James lay and knelt down next to Remus.

"Concertar," came Remus' muffled and strained voice from behind his hands. "Concertar! Is that so hard to remember?" Remus emerged from behind the shelter of his hands looking as he normally did right before the full moon.

"Sirius' eyes were wide in shock. "He's not -- I didn't - he's not going to-"

"-No, he's not dead," Remus interrupted, grabbing James' hand to check his pulse, "but he's definitely knocked out."

Sirius began glancing around frantically for something that might be able to help his friend. His eyes landed on the bubbling cauldron. "Hey, why don't we try to make him drink potion?" Sirius yelled wildly.

Remus looked from James to the cauldron and back. "No," he started slowly, his brow furrowed, "I don't know if that would help or hurt him. I think we should just take him to Madam Pomfrey. She'll know what to do." Remus glanced up at Sirius and Peter, waiting for their approval. They nodded, and Remus pushed himself off the floor to retrieve his wand. Sirius pointed his own wand at the motionless James and muttered, "Mobilicorpus." James' body was lifted off the floor, and the group trudged slowly to the door in single file.

* * *

"You're sure he won't be angry?" Sirius asked Remus skeptically as they approached the entrance to the Hospital Wing. He, Remus, and Peter were visiting James the Friday after James was first admitted into the infirmary.

Remus rolled his eyes. "It'll be fine, Padfoot. He's probably only just woken up. He'll be too tired to kill you now," Remus finished knowledgably. Sirius sent him a withering glare as he turned the doorknob.

James was lying in a bed on the left side of the Hospital Wing. His fellow Marauders lined up between his bed and the next bed, with Sirius at the head of the group and Peter bringing up the rear.

Peter spoke first. "Are you alright, James?"

James' eyes opened slowly as he glanced up at a worried-looking Peter. He then looked in Remus' direction, and finally, he found himself staring at Sirius.

There was complete silence for several moments, during which James and Sirius merely looked at each other. Then, out of nowhere, James' fist slammed into Sirius' stomach, sending Sirius coughing to the floor. Remus looked down at his wheezing friend and chuckled, which consequently earned him his own punch in the stomach and a space of the floor next to his rather violent friend.

"Never try to put any kind of spell on me ever again," James told Sirius firmly. Sirius replied with a particularly loud cough. James turned his attention toward Peter and said, "Yes, Wormtail, I'm alright. Madam Pomfrey said that I'd be out of here by tomorrow afternoon."

"Well, that's good," Remus managed to choke out. He heaved himself onto his feet and offered his hand to Sirius. "Fine, I'm sorry I laughed."

Sirius grabbed Remus' outstretched hand and dragged himself to his feet. "You'd better by sorry." He turned to James. "We'll see you tomorrow then, Prongs." He, Remus, and Peter said goodbye to James, then returned to the Gryffindor common room.

That weekend passed without any major accidents. On Saturday night, Sirius practiced the Cantorecio Curse on Remus. He managed to do the curse correctly on his second attempt. The first try, however, caused Remus' nose to swell to the size of a bludger and bleed heavily for an hour. ("I swear, James distracted me! Honest!")

On Monday morning, the Marauders sat slumped in their desks during Transfiguration class. They had spent most of the previous night finishing undone homework, and they were too tired and bored to even write notes to each other. Sirius and Peter were staring at Professor McGonagall with blank expressions pasted on their faces and their mouths hanging open. Remus was trying to concentrate on McGonagall's lecture, but his mind continued to wander to the prank, which was to take place that evening. James had taken to annoying the Slytherins, with whom the Gryffindors shared their Transfiguration class. Currently, James' target was Snivellus Snape. James Levitated his quill so that it prodded Snape's back, then before Snape could turn around, James would force the quill to move down and out of sight. He had been lucky; Snape hadn't figured out what was going on. That is, James was lucky until Professor McGonagall happened to glance in his direction.

"Mr. Potter!" bellowed the professor, causing James to drop both his wand and the quill simultaneously. "Would you please join me in my office for detention at five o'clock tonight and tomorrow night?"

James gaped at her, unable to believe what she had just said. He lowered his gaze, only to see Snape smirking nastily at him. James felt the color rising in his face while he dug his fingernails deep into the palm of this hand. As Professor McGonagall continued the endless lecture, James glanced at the other Marauders. They were all watching him, wearing the same wide-eyed expressions that could clearly be interpreted as, "What are we going to do?"

* * *

"You all are just going to have to do it without me," James hissed to Sirius, Remus, and Peter as they trudged along the corridors that led to the Great Hall.

Sirius, looking rather distressed, whined, "But the book said that the curse works better if two people perform it! Can't we do it in a few days"

"No, it has to be tonight or tomorrow night," James sighed heavily. "The day after tomorrow is the full moon, and," he lowered his voice as he looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was eavesdropping, "Remus won't be out of the Hospital Wing until two days after that. And then after that, I have Quidditch practice every night because the first match is coming up. It'd be about another month before we could do the prank if you don't do it tonight. No, you have to do it tonight. Remus can take my place," James said. "Peter can be the lookout. It'll be fine." The friends entered the Great Hall and took their usual places at the Gryffindor table for lunch.

Sirius, who had been quieter than his friends believed possible, looked along the table to where Lily Evans and her friends sat chattering loudly. He suddenly remembered how he had felt the day Evans had ruined their plans to prank Snape, and he narrowed his eyes in dislike. "All right, let's do it."

The rest of the day passed rapidly, and soon it was time for James to leave for his detention with McGonagall. He wished his friends good luck before disappearing into the professor's office. The remaining Marauders retreated to the Gryffindor common room, where they were to wait until everyone else went to bed.

Peter, Sirius, and Remus passed the hours by poring over homework and textbooks. The room slowly emptied, and after several long hours, there were only five other older students sharing the room with the Marauders.

Suddenly, the portrait hole opened to reveal a red-faced Demeter. She stalked haughtily past the three boys. They could hear her hissing vehemently under her breath, and they caught snatches of odd phrases, such as "Davey Gudgeon," "Astronomy Tower," "slimy toad," and "never again." With that, Demeter marched up the stairs leading to the girls' dormitories.

"What was that all about?" Peter yawned widely. Sirius and Remus shrugged their shoulders in unison, and they threesome returned to their homework.

After Demeter had come back, presumably from the Astronomy Tower, it didn't take too long for the rest of the common room's occupants to retire to their respective dormitories. It was time for the long awaited prank to begin.

Peter sneaked up the boy's staircase to retrieve James' Invisibility Cloak, which was to cover Sirius and Remus when they were in the fifth year girls' dormitory. When he returned, Sirius gave him strict orders to stop any girls from going up to their dormitories. Peter promised that he would do everything Sirius said, and sat down in a red chair near the portrait hole to keep watch. With that, Sirius and Remus prepared to go where no other Gryffindor boy had gone before.

Sirius aimed his wand at the staircase and murmured the spell that would stop the stairs from morphing into a giant slide. After one last look back at Peter, Remus threw the Invisibility Cloak over Sirius and himself and began to tiptoe up the staircase to Lily's dormitory.

When they reached the door leading to the dormitory, Remus grasped the handle and pulled it open gently. The room was completely silent except for the soft sounds of the five girls breathing slowly. The boys stepped carefully into the room and began to search for the four-poster bed belonging to Lily. It wasn't too hard to find; a few minutes into the search, Sirius discovered several muggle books with "Lily Evans" written neatly in the front covers at the foot of one of the beds. Remus quietly pushed aside the red velvet curtains surrounding the sleeping red-head. Sirius and Remus glanced at one another as they pulled out their wands. They raised the Invisibility Cloak just enough so that the sparks sent by the wands wouldn't hit the cloak instead of Lily.

Sirius tapped Remus on the shoulder, held up three fingers, and mouthed the words, "On the count of three." Remus nodded as he raised his wand and pointed it at Lily. Again, Sirius silently moved his lips.

"One. Two. Three." He and Remus simultaneously jabbed their wands and whispered, "Concertar!"

Before the sparks had even reached Lily, Sirius and Remus exchanged triumphant looks. The exited the room as quietly as they could and retreated to the common room. There, they found Peter sleeping in his chair. Remus and Sirius each took one of Peter's arms and heaved him out of the chair and up the stairs leading to the boys' dormitories. After depositing Peter in his bed, the two remaining friends collapsed, exhausted, into their respective beds without saying anything to each other.

The following morning, James was the first of the Marauders to awake. This was actually an unusual occurrence. It was normally Remus or Sirius who woke the others on weekdays. Today, however, both Remus' and Sirius' beds were silent. James decided to have some fun with his friends, so he grabbed three fluffy pillows, chucked one at each of their four-poster beds, and screamed, "Oi! Time to get up!"

There was a high pitched shriek from behind the curtains of Peter's bed, then a loud THUMP was heard as a large lump fell onto the floor. In the next bed, Remus was kicking aside the curtains as he yawned widely and squinted in the sunlight filling the room. However, there were still no noises emitting from behind the curtains of Sirius' bed.

James impatiently threw his last pillow at Sirius' bed and shouted, "Hey! Sirius! Get up!"

The curtains had begun to move; it appeared as though Sirius was having a difficult time grabbing them. Finally, the curtains were shoved aside to reveal Sirius, looking bleary-eyed and annoyed. He opened his mouth, undoubtedly to comment about his rude awakening, then sang shrilly, "HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME."