Prank Wars, pt. 2

James was the last to arrive at practice. He said there was a confusion about time, but Harry would find out later he'd just stayed in the common room too late, as he'd waited to convince Lily to come watch him after breakfast. Harry knew Lily had slept in late on purpose so she wouldn't see James. 

James wore black dragon skin gloves, looking smug as he looked from his Nimbus to Harry's, thinking that Harry had lost his advantage. 

"Okay, now that everyone's here...finally," she looked at James, who merely smiled, "we can get started." 

She split them into two groups for a warm-up. Harry was on James' team. Harry noticed, as the practice went on, that James was a pretty decent flyer, and was able to catch and pass, but he lacked any team skills. He would try a complicated move that was quite unnecessary and lost him the Quaffle in the end. 

When the team had touched down for the final time in early afternoon, James' ego had deflated a bit. 

"Let's go eat, everyone! Don't forget we have practice Tuesday, right after class!" Violetta poked James' shoulder as he walked with the rest of them. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" 

James straightened, looking smug again. "Sure." He glanced halfway at Harry, before sauntering off beside Violetta.

Weeks later, Raven revealed to Harry, "I know about the Animagus project."

Harry shushed her, looking around, but no one was listening. "So, what are you going to do?" And how had she found out?

"I want to be a part of it, too. The only thing stopping Severus from telling is knowing you're in on it. And...he doesn't want to become an Animagus, since he doesn't want to have anything to do with James and them." Raven's eyes were determined, scrutinizing his reaction.

Harry knew if he said no, Raven or Severus might give away their plan.

"I suppose so...but they won't be happy, with me or you."

Raven nodded quickly, about to thank him when Harry continued, "You can't tell anyone. And you'll spend at three hours a week researching." That part was an exaggeration, as Remus ended up doing most of the research, but wanted her to change her mind.

"I don't mind at all. Thank you so much!" Raven grinned and hurried to catch up with Severus.

One morning in October, Harry was jolted awake by the water. 

It rained, hard, from the ceiling, frigid and...green?

"What the hell?" James was already at the door, trying to escape, but it wouldn't budge. "Alohomora!" Nothing. James pushed back a lock of now bright green hair and gritted his teeth in frustration, only for them to be dyed as well. 

Sirius rushed to the window, throwing every spell he knew at it. Nothing would open or break the glass. Lupin threw his schoolbooks in his dresser, and ran to do the same for everyone else.

"Finite Incantatem!" Harry yelled, wand at the ceiling. Nothing happened. 

"Impedimenta!"

Harry watched as a raindrop in front of his face slow. It looked like an emerald, or stained glass. Lupin gasped a little in wonder.

"Incendio!" The door burst into flames that shot up, black and menacing. After the wood had burned through, the rain started up again and extinguished the tendrils that had worked their way across the floor. 

The six boys ran out of the room, only to meet more rain. 

"James, Sirius; get the first Professor you can get to. Professor Darcer, if you can." 

Harry was certain that the Slytherins were behind this, but how did they get in? He didn't want to think this was Severus and Raven's doing. 

"Jacob!" Remus shouted over the din of shouting, rain, and footfalls. "We have to get everyone out!"

The two of them slowed down the rain (Remus knew the spell as well, though no one else in their grade had learned it) and burned the doors.

The common room was a mess. When Remus and Harry got back downstairs they saw the Gryffindor girls running toward the portrait hole, levitating tables and chairs as they went to get some cover from the rain. 

Professor Darcer ran into the room with what appeared to be the top part of an umbrella suspended over his head. He wore navy pajamas and his thick brown hair was flung about in a way very similar to James. 

A few muttered incantations later and the rain started to peter out. Then, everything was silent.

"Follow me, Remus, Jacob." Darcer led them, then the others, out to the Hospital wing.

"Paling Potion, please, Poppy," Darcer said briskly, giving no explanation until every student drank their allotted cup. He discussed, in whisper, what had happened to Madam Pomfrey until the effects of the potion had settled in. 

The Gryffindors stood, completely white, gaping at each other. 

"No worries, it'll take a few hours for you to get all your color back. Twelve at the most." 

There were a few groans, curses, and angry mutters. Harry heard several mutterings of "Slytherins." 

"If there is anyone who can't fall asleep, I'll arrange for an early breakfast. And I'll make sure you're excused from your first class this morning. Also, until we find out who did this, I don't want anyone to make any assumptions."

By their second class of the day, tensions ran high.

"So, which Slytherin wants to confess to this morning?" James asked lazily, leaning on his desk. "It'll save time. I won't make fun of you for coming up with the absolute worst prank I've ever seen." Everyone was quiet now, looking at James. 

"No one? Snivellus, what about you?" Sirius sidled next to James. 

Severus' eyes narrowed. He said nothing. 

James nodded, looking away as if to accept this; then his arm shot out and sent a red stream at Mulciber. 

The silence was broken, and the two houses were suddenly shooting at each other, even Mulciber, whose face had been transfigured into a pig's.

With an unintelligible squeal, Mulciber sent a curse at Lily, whose back was turned as she tried to stop the fighting.

"Protego!" Harry blocked the spell and shot another between the two groups, forming a barrier against the spells, which sparked uselessly in the air.

"Enough!" Professor McGonagall whisked into the room, eyes blazing.

Harry wished she hadn't seen him cast the spell; it was more advanced magic than any of the others his age knew.

"You should all be ashamed of yourselves." 

James got down from the table he'd jumped onto. "They started it!"

Professor McGonagall cut him off. 

"Detention, Potter. If the rest of you could please take a seat, without blowing up the classroom, I would appreciate it." 

The chairs shuffled and scraped as the students sat down. Professor McGonagall looked them over sternly, then opened her mouth to continue when Mulciber snorted loudly.

"Now, really..." McGonagall waved her wand and Mulciber returned to normal. "This morning's events are inexcusable. I expect that you can at least be civil with each other, if you cannot be friends, and that nothing of this sort will happen again."

Only three days passed before the Gryffindors retaliated.

Lucius Malfoy was the first to confront them, because he was one of those who got the worst of the prank. 

He stormed up to James in the hallway after first hour, eyes ablaze, furious. 

"I heard you arranged this, you little prat." 

The second year group had now stopped to watch. James grinned, even though Lucius' wand was pointed at his throat.

"I might have. I at least gave them the idea for the tattoo on your arse."

Lucius turned scarlet and put his wand on James' skin. The lion tattoo on Lucius' face opened its mouth into a roar, but no sound came out. "Oh, I could burn you where you stand. You're just a second year, and I know magic beyond what your tiny brain can imagine." 

As he turned to leave, James said, "Well, not enough magic to grow your hair back, right?" 

Lucius spun, short hair standing up with static, and shot a spell at James, who was thrown backwards. 

"James!" a few girls screamed. Aluria Vane ran to his side, but James waved her off. 

Lucius was gone, laughter from the Slytherins rippling in his wake. Harry saw they all had Gryffindor tattoos on their faces and hands—and probably other places he couldn't see.

Sirius helped James up, and they left the scene in furious whispers. 

The battle of the houses continued. Madam Pomfrey rarely showed up at meals, and the hospital wing was always crowded with visitors and victims of pranks. Teachers piled on more homework in the hopes that they could lessen attacks, but the stress only strengthened the arguments between Slytherin and the other houses. Dumbledore made speeches on the founding of the school and the unity that was intended.

History of Magic turned into debates about the purpose of the houses, with Professor Binns serving as a weak moderator. 

Harry first just listened in the arguments that broke out between the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors, but after listening to the childish retorts for three classes, he had to say something. 

"The houses are important because they unite Hogwarts, not divide it. The fights are because of individual people, not because of the houses. Besides, some people become friends with people outside their own house, even with Slytherins." 

"I disagree." A Ravenclaw, Lauren Tempah, stood up. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Hardly anyone has best friends from different houses. And we have fights because we know we are different from the others; the Sorting Hat tells us that. The four-house system prevents us from learning how to deal with people different from us." 

Harry couldn't hide his annoyance. They were going against the way the school had been for a thousand years...the way he'd lived in the best home he'd ever had. "Then why are there different countries? Or even cities?" 

The girl glared at him. She was one of the few who paid attention in History. "That's different. People in different countries speak different languages, and they have different governments, and live in completely different ways. Here, we're all from Britain, we're all witches or wizards, and we're all kids. We're not meant to be put into boxes when we're still trying to figure out who we are." 

Professor Binns checked the clock, now ten minutes past the end of class. "Class dismissed." 

Harry almost shot something back at Lauren, but she was already moving out the door.

"Do you guys agree with me?" Harry asked Raven, Severus, and Lily. 

"Yes." 

"Yes." 

It was Raven who hadn't replied. She shrugged and tilted her head. "Lauren does have a point." 

Harry opened his mouth to try and convince her, but she interrupted. "We gotta go, just...think about what she meant, not about the houses." 

She and Severus left in a hurry, and the Marauders followed. Remus told them to go on without him; he had to ask the Professor something. 

He joined Lily and Harry without talking to Binns.

"Hello," he said as we swept his hair aside, looking at Lily, then Harry, and back to Lily. 

"Remus, what do you think about the houses? I'm torn." 

Harry was surprised; Lily had an opinion about everything. 

"I like the idea of the houses, but I think they go too far. Most things we do are with our own house, so we never get to know anyone else. And I see, especially with the Slytherins and Gryffindors, that the label creates the conflict. People think what they do—their destiny—is predetermined by where they're put." 

Lily stared at him, amazed, which made him so nervous he couldn't continue. "Okay, I think I decided; I agree with you." 

Harry was tired of arguing with twelve-year-olds, who had little idea of what they were saying, and a weaker sense of tradition. Part of him thought Remus was right, but he still felt the houses were what kept the school together.

It had been a miserable two weeks. More drastic measures soon had to be taken. 

When Professor McGonagall addressed the students, she had shadows under her eyes. "I will give the Gryffindors and the Slytherins one week. If they cannot resolve their differences by next Friday, November 3rd, the night before the first match, they will not be able to compete for the cup." 

Cries of outrage and frustration rang throughout the hall. 

Dumbledore stood and the everyone fell silent. 

"The events over the past few weeks have astounded me. A new era is approaching, so it is essential that we remain united. Petty differences are no means for a feud." 

Some students whispered to each other, oblivious to this "new era." Harry was one of the many that knew what Dumbledore meant; Voldemort was gaining power, and loyalties would be tested. 

"This has been a battle over, in the eyes of the houses involved, right and wrong. But fighting cannot create peace; or at least, not a resolution. I want each of you to consider this before you jeopardize someone's safety."

For a day, it seemed as though the conflict was over, but the last prank had been Gryffindor's work, and some of them couldn't resist rubbing it in. 

So it was inevitable that the Slytherins would do something to shut them up. 

Literally, shut them up. Five Gryffindors, including James and Sirius, woke up unable to speak. They could open their mouths, but no spell would allow them to make a sound that wasn't a high-pitched squeak. 

In Potions, as Slughorn prepared a remedy, Harry caught a glimpse of the writing on a note James passed to Sirius. 

Thursday night, corridor by the dungeons. 

The word of the plan did not reach the teachers. Students were under enough pressure from both sides that there were no attempts—that Harry knew of—to stop the battle.

Severus and Raven virtually disappeared in their small amounts of free time. This would be the true test of loyalty, but it seemed they had already made their decision. 

That week, the hallway interactions between the Slytherin and the other houses consisted of either sarcastic respect and kindness or blunt distaste. As the fighting lessened, it seemed, to everyone not in the know, that they would make the deadline. 

Harry wondered whether the fight-to-end-all-fights would just jumpstart the problem. And then there was the other factor; none of them wanted to lose Quidditch rights, even if they weren't on a team. 

On Thursday, an electric current ran though the Great Hall. The teachers seemed much more rested and less stressed. After dinner, the students clambered to leave, clutching books on spells they had studied to prepare, talking to calm their nerves.

Nearly all of the Gryffindors left the common room at eleven. The percentage of participants rose slightly per year of study. All of the sixth and seventh years went, a couple hanging back to paint the eager, determined faces of their peers.

"Jacob, I decided to go. I don't want anyone to get hurt, and I haven't done anything so far. Have you decided?" Lily had been struggling with the decision because she thought the conflict was unnecessary. 

"Yes, I'm going, but I'm not hexing anyone. I need to know you guys'll be safe. Also...I don't want Severus or Raven to do something they'll regret."

The Gryffindors moved through the school in small groups. The seventh years put Disillusionment Charms on all of the students, which was enough to conceal them in the dark hallways. 

The fight didn't break out at the first encounter. The Slytherins and the Gryffindors revealed themselves at the appropriate place and time, a bit unsure. Some students cast protection charms around the area. 

After a minute of suspense, a Slytherin, face masked like a Death Eater, pushed to the front of his end. He had hardly extended his arm before he was knocked to the ground by one of Frank Longbottom's friends.

Most students teamed up against others. Those who had specific grudges faced off one-on-one...if they could recognize their opponent. Harry was too focused on blocking spells to find Severus and Raven, who he thought he could identify by their height and movements. 

A high-pitched noise shot through the air. Harry didn't know what or where the sound was coming from until everyone stopped what they were doing. 

The girl was now curled on the ground, stiff with pain. The circle of Slytherins around her dropped as stunning spells collided with their backs. 

The Slytherins scattered, taking the unconscious bodies with them, cries of protest and stray spells ringing out among the Gryffindors. 

Harry pointed his wand at a few of the now recovered Slytherins who had circled the girl. "Accio masks!" 

Unmistakably greasy black hair was revealed on one of the boys as they ran away. Harry glanced back and saw Lily staring at the spot Severus had been, shock frozen on her features. 

"Violetta, are you okay?" Harry heard someone ask. He turned and saw she had sat up, but was still crying. 

"I—it was the Cruciatus Curse," Violetta managed after two of her friends calmed her down.

Lily had finally been pulled out of her haze and asked Harry, "What's going to happen now?"