Much Ado About the Penta-Juice Potion

Chapter 1: James

Lily was the first to wake the next morning and made her way down to breakfast with a small vial of clear liquid. She hastily poured the potion into the orange juice glass where James usually sat, hoping that he would continue his tradition today.

Almost immediately after Lily had poured the contents of the container into the glass, the Maruaders were making their way to the Gryffindor table. To her delight, James gulped down his juice instantly.

"We need to find a way to put the Shrieking Shack on the map," James was saying.

James, Peter, and Sirius turned to Remus with a looks of hope on their faces.

"Yeah, if we could put it on there, then we could make sure Moony doesn't suck anyone's blood when he's transformed!" Peter said excitedly.

The other three stared at him; they were partly amazed that Wormtail actually bothered to speak up when he had a thought, but also flabbergasted that after living with a werewolf for 5 years, he knew so little.

"Ummm, Wormtail...," Remus seemed slightly reluctant to break the news to his friend. "Werewolves don't suck blood, they only bite their victims. You're thinking of Vampires."

"Well, anyway we probably need to head off to potions. If we get there early, we can finish yesterday's homework before Slughorn arrives. That way, you won't be late for Quidditch," Sirius eyed his friend after saying this: James looked like he was on the verge of burping up slugs.

"W-we for-g-got to d-d-do ou-our h-h-omew-work?" James asked shakily.

"We didn't forget, exactly, it just wasn't high up on our priority list last night that's all...," Sirius replied airily.

"Oh yeah, throwing dungbombs in the Slytherin common room with Padfoot is much more important," Remus said sarcastically.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Now, I expect everyone finished their homework on the Draught of Peace? Good. We'll be making this potion today so get your caldrons out and pass in your homework," Slughorn, the potions teacher, seemed very thrilled about the idea of receiving students' homework for some reason.

"So, finish the essay yet, Padfoot?" Remus asked lazily.

"Of course, Moony my friend. Have you ever known an overachiever such as myself fail turning in my homework. Especially Potions! How dare you insult my intellect!" Sirius tried to give his friend an appalled look. The mischievous marauder must've had much difficulty hiding a grin, though, because his face broke into a puppy dog pout that clearly said 'please don't ask to look at my paper- it's none of your business if I fail this class or not.'

Remus raised an eyebrow and snatched the paper from Sirius's sweaty hand. He cleared his throat as if to read it aloud, but didn't.

Draught of Peace

Sirius Black 5^th year

The Draught of Peace gets rid of anxiety. It is especially useful when about to play a prank or a Quidditch game.

Uncommon poisons- use only on worst enemy as most effects are irreversible

Note to self- use on Snivellus next Quidditch match

"What?! What don't I want him to see?" Sirius asked.

"Well, I'm not sure what he'd think was worse: that you refuse to spend more than five minutes on an assignment, or that you're plotting against a Slytherin, writing down your plans for them on a piece of parchment, and turning it in to the Slytherin head of house," Remus commented.

With that, Sirius snatched the paper back and scribbled something more on it. Then he handed it back, looking triumphant.

Draught of Peace

Sirius Black

The Draught of Peace gets rid of anxiety. It is especially useful when about to play a prank or a Quidditch game.

Uncommon poisons- use only on worst enemy as most effects are irreversible

Note to self- use on Snivellus next Quidditch match

"Better?" Sirius asked as Remus finished reading.

"Whatever you say, Padfoot," Remus replied with an eyebrow cocked.

In the next few minutes, the students' homework was collected. Their cauldrons were out and they were adding the ingredients to the potion. Unfortunately, few students were getting the expected results and there was only five minutes left of class. Peter was leaning over a green, gooey, boiling substance.

"I thought this was supposed to be silver with a light mist," Said Sirius after looking over Peter's shoulder and back up to the board in the front of the room where instructions were written.

"It is," Emphasized Remus seeming slightly annoyed.

"Well what are you all mad about?" whined Peter. "Yours looks perfect....what did I do wrong?"

Remus quickly studied Peter's concoction.

"Wormtail, what did you put in there?"

"Uhh....well, some powdered moonstone, along with some....uh...."

"Did you stir clockwise after every pinch of moonstone?" Remus asked.

"Ummm......Yes?" Peter looked very ashamed. "Well, maybe I did accidentally stir it counterclockwise and add doxy eggs."

"DOXY EGGS?!" Remus seemed highly exasperated. "No, Peter, Doxy Eggs and Moonstone powder form an unstable chemical!"

Sirius, who had been eagerly watching this whole ordeal, turned to James.

"What do you think are the chances that Wormtail's potion'll blow up right in his face?" He had begun to hop and down in the excitement of it all. But, James was busy with other matters.

The black-haired boy, who appeared to be staring at a very interesting crack in the wall on the other side of the room, sniffed, took off his glasses, wiped them off on his robes, and slid them up the bridge of his nose. Sirius, who had caught James' actions and was staring with great interest, waved a hand wildly in front of his friend's face. When James didn't respond and continued to stare forlornly at the wall, Sirius grabbed him by the collar, and hurled him around so they were face to face.

"What are you doing, Prongs?"

In response James turned away from his friend and sniffed a horrible, snotty sniffle.

"I-I-I.....it's-it's....h-hard," said the boy lamely. It looked to Sirius as if James was on the brink of tears.

"Huh?" asked Sirius. "What in Merlin's name are you talking about?"

"The-the p-p-p-potion, it-it's confusing." James sobbed. "What if I do something w-wrong; what if-what if-if-if," he gasped, "Slughorn doesn't like mine?!"

"Uh, Prongs? Since when did you ever care about doing well in potions, OR what a teacher thought of your work?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, I mean throwing dungbombs in the Slytherin common room with Padfoot is much more important," said Remus mockingly, before looking up from Peter's predicament. "And don't look at me like that, Padfoot, you know what I said is completely true."

Sirius just grinned stupidly at his friend before turning back to James.

"What do you think is wrong with him?" he asked.

"Puh. I think it's just about time he had an emotional break-down; hanging around you all the time can be really stressful."

"An emotional breakdo--"

"I mean I've probably lost most of the acute hearing that werewolves have, just because I was around your screaming and yelling for five years," Remus continued. "And, poor Wormtail here is undergoing some emotional stress I'm sure. I'm just surprised Prongs didn't hit a breaking point sooner," He sighed a fake sigh before going back to helping Peter.

"Hey!" Peter retorted. "I'm not going through any emotional whatsits, but, I do think we should take James to the hospital wing. It could be something serious. Like, maybe he was hit with a spell or something while we weren't looking. I wouldn't put it past the Slytherins to get us back after all you've done to them, Padfoot."

"I rest my case," muttered Remus.

"Can it, Moony," Sirius said shortly, but he couldn't help to hide a smirk. "So, what're you gonna do about Wormtail's potion?"

"Well.....to neutralize the doxy eggs, we need to add two phoenix feathers, stirring clockwise in between. Then, not any later than 10 seconds after the second feather, we need to add the horn of a Graphorn. So, Wormtail you put the ingredients into the mixture, Padfoot, you get the Pheonix feathers from the potions cabnet, Prongs, you can get the Graphorn horn, and I'll stir," finished Remus authoritatively.

Soon, all four Marauders were gathered around Peter's cauldron waiting for instructions.

"Sirius, add the first phoenix feather," commanded Remus, who then stirred the potion once clockwise. "Now the second one..." Remus started to stir the mixture again. "Okay! Now Prongs! Add the Graphorn Horn!" Remus finished stirring. "Prongs? James? HELLO?! YOU HAVE TO ADD IT NOW!!!"

James was backing up from the cauldron as though he had just come face to face with a dementor. He was also clutching the horn firmly in his hands.

"Come on Prongs," said Peter worriedly. "Remus said you have to add it now..."

"Yeah, we don't want to mess it up!" Sirius coaxed. James promptly sniffed. Then whimpered.

"N-n-no! W-what I-f-f it d-does-sn't w-w-ork?" asked James.

"It WILL! Moony knows what he's doing!" Sirius exclaimed. His friend sniffled again, still firmly holding the ingredient. "GIVE ME THAT!!" Sirius had resorted to taking the horn by force and was lunging at James. Unfortunately, James was taller, so he simply held the horn above his head. Sirius, aggravated, grabbed his friend by the robes and pushed him to the ground, grabbing wildly for the ingredient. Peter watched the ordeal with a hint of nervousness and excitement on his face, while Remus shut his eyes and sighed a long, heartfelt sigh. Neither of the scuffling Marauders knew that the whole class was watching in silence. The crowd included the potions master who was too cowardly to stop the fight himself.

Finally, Remus started to talk (rather loudly for the brawl going on was noisy) in a bored, lazy voice- as if he knew what was about to happen and was patiently awaiting his fate.

"Five.... four," Remus began, Sirius punched James in mouth, "three," James sneezed and threw the horn at Peter, "two....," Peter caught it and looked wildly around, not knowing what to do, "...one," Sirius ran towards Peter screaming 'THROW IT IN!!! THROW-IT-IN-NOW!!!' Peter did not comply, but stared on like a deer caught in the headlights. Remus sighed again and stepped away from the potion, "...zero," and as if on cue, the potion exploded in a horrifically loud "BOOM"!

After some simple cleaning spells, the potions classroom was as clean as ever. Professor Slughorn thanked Lily Evans for her help, and she was quickly on her way. In the corridor, she snickered. Her plan was working perfectly.

A few hours later, the four Marauders were leaving the hospital wing a good as new: Sirius in the lead, Peter following close behind, Remus about a yard back, reading a book, and James about three yards behind Remus, head low.

"-and then I made a daring swipe, and hit him square on his big, fat head - no offense, Prongs," Sirius was happily retelling the potions incident from his point of view to Peter, "Then, while he was recovering from my excellent hit, I made a grab for the horn, knowing that my missing would result in the potion exploding-"

"Funny how it did anyway," Remus interrupted, still looking down at his book. Sirius frowned.

"What're you reading, Moony?" he asked curiously. Lupin raised the cover of the book so that it was in front of his eyes. The title was revealed, but Remus continued to read.

" Virus in a Bottle: a guide to potions that really aren't," Sirius recited. "Do you think that'll help us with James' problem?"

The three turned back to their friend who was staring at a painting of a knight in shining armor, literally.

"How dare you step foot on the noble grounds of Sir Cadagan!" the knight in the picture was saying with superiority. " You shall face my noble sword and steed should you not leave my presence, you mindless coward."

Suddenly James darted past his friends sniffling. They only caught the words 'he's right', 'it's true', and 'common room' as he ran by.

"Come on, let's follow him, we can figure this out tomorrow. I just hope he's over this before the Quidditch game. We're playing Slytherin." Sirius said before running off with Peter close behind.

Remus looked up at James, then back down to his book before chasing after his friends.