Thursday, September 28, 1971.
"Today's the big day, gentlemen!" announced Sirius, who had woken up with more energy. They had woken up about 30 minutes earlier to plan the final details of the prank so that nothing would go wrong.
"Rabastan has no idea what's about to hit him..." said James, looking sleepy, but energetic.
On the coffee table rested three vials with a purple-colored liquid, "That's a lot of it. Maybe we can increase the number of victims," commented Lupin. If anyone heard him, they would think he was planning an attack.
"Before that. James," said Sirius, glaring at his friend.
"What?" said James, playing dumb.
"Show us how you plan to mix the potion in the Slytherin boys' cups," Sirius said seriously. The whole mission depended on this last step because if they got it wrong, no one from Slytherin would drink the potion.
"Oh, that... wait," said James, opening his trunk and looking for something. Everyone, including Toby, was watching him intently. Despite his aloofness, James didn't mind Toby watching his prank plans.
After a few seconds, he presented them with a very long, voluminous cloak, woven from a strange fabric of a silvery gray and shimmering.
"No..." said Sirius gawking at the cloak, "You don't have it...damn it."
Peter also watched with an amazed expression at James' cloak. The only ones who didn't understand what it was all about were Lupin and Toby.
James smiled slightly, pleased at the reaction of Sirius and the others. Seeing Toby and Lupin's confused expressions, he quickly pulled his cloak over his head so that it covered him completely. He vanished.
"You lucky bastard! How come you never told me!" exclaimed Sirius in amusement.
"That's the first time I've ever seen an invisibility cloak!" shrieked Peter in amazement.
James pulled down the hood of the cloak so that his head seemed to float in the air, "It's a family relic or something..." said James.
"What do you think, Lupin, Toby?" he asked, looking at the two boys who had so far not spoken.
"That's great... Now I remember my dad talking about an invisibility cloak," said Lupin, recovering from the initial shock.
"That's amazing," said Toby, who couldn't believe James' head was floating. His shock was greater than anyone in this room since he hadn't experienced much of the magical world.
"With this cloak, I will enter the dining room, and without being seen, I will put the potion on the Slytherin bastards," said James, taking off his cloak, and his body was visible again.
"With the potion under the cloak, you won't be able to mix it in the cups without being seen. Minimally part of your hand will have to leave the cloak," said Lupin with a hand on his chin.
"Yes. That's where you guys come in," said James, pointing to everyone in general.
"We must create a distraction," said Peter with a bit of fear, but getting the point.
"Creating a fight with that bastard Rabastan and his friends is my specialty. When everyone is watching us, it will be your time to act," said Sirius, who was the right person for this role.
They talked a couple more things and all headed for the dining room. James followed them under the invisibility cloak. Many in Gryffindor found James' absence strange but thought nothing more of it.
When they reached the dining hall they noticed that Rabastan and his gang were already eating breakfast. Severus Snape was also standing near them, with the two boys James had come across the day he had headed to the library with Lily.
"I'll go get positioned, wait a few minutes," whispered James in Sirius' ear, as he made his way to the Slytherin table.
Sirius, Lupin, and Peter sat at the table in the usual manner, doing the deed. After about 5 minutes, Sirius got up and together with Lupin headed to the Slytherin table. On the other hand, Peter headed to the teachers' table. He was to get McGonagall's attention, as the witch can stop the fight before it starts.
'I must ask him from page 45, paragraph 4...' thought Peter as he repeated this several times in his head.
Rabastan was warned by Mulciber about this and quickly turned and faced Sirius, "What do you want, Black? Get back to your table!" he said in a threatening tone.
"Hey, take it easy, dude. Just wondering if you're gonna show us your awesome flying skills today," Sirius said in a loud tone for all to hear smirking.
"Shut your mouth!" shouted Rabastan angrily. The event where he fell off his broom and was hit by the Whomping Willow was one of the most embarrassing events of his life. The worst of all was that James Potter, his arch-rival, saved him.
All the Slytherin students watched the two groups intently. It was the common thing these days for these first-year students to clash and fight.
"They're fighting again...?" said Lily from the Gryffindor table, "Where's Professor McGonagall?" she muttered, looking at the teacher's table. When she saw Peter distracting the teacher, she knew something was wrong.
"That spin you pulled in the air was amazing, even though it didn't do much... What's it like to be attacked by a Whomping Willow?" asked Sirius showing a real interest which made Rabastan angrier.
"I don't mean to tease you. It's just that few people know the feeling of being beaten to a pulp by a Whomping Willow," he added quickly trying to calm Rabastan down, even though it was all an act to annoy him more, and it was working to perfection.
Lupin looked at Sirius with a strange expression, 'If annoying people was a subject, Sirius would be the best student' thought Lupin.
"You bastard!" shouted Rabastan with no more patience and threw a punch at Sirius in the cheek. Sirius felt some pain, but he didn't stand still, he hit back at Rabastan, who recoiled a little.
"You hit like a girl, Lestrange!" exclaimed Sirius. Mulciber lunged at him, but Lupin got in the way and unbelievably hit him back. A street fight broke out in the Hogwarts Great Hall.
Everyone at the Slytherin table got up to watch the fight. Snape and his friends did the same. The glasses of many were unprotected.
"Break it up right now!" shouted Slughorn angrily as he saw that the school had turned into some sort of alley where bullies exchanged blows.
Sirius and Lupin sighed in relief. They were waiting for the Professor's interference, as they were outnumbered. In addition to Rabastan, Mulciber, and Avery, other first-year boys were about of joining the fight.
"You two get back to your table!" said Slughorn angrily. Sirius and Lupin happily accepted his order. Luckily they were spared punishment. They both had a bit of a bloody nose at most, and the same was true for the Slytherin's.
"Amazingly, we didn't get punished," said Lupin, sitting down at the table and being watched by everyone, a thing he was getting used to lately.
"Yeah, maybe he's tired of us always being the same," said Sirius also thankful that he didn't get detention. Sirius wasn't planning on starting a fistfight, but he wouldn't stand by while Rabastan beat him up.
Peter had already arrived. He managed to accomplish his mission, otherwise McGonagall would have stopped the brawl before it started.
James had already accomplished his task. He emptied the three vials at an incredible speed, now he was running to the Gryffindor common room to put the cloak away and return to the dining room to watch the show.
'I have ten minutes before the potion takes effect' thought James as he ran with a smile on his face. When he got to the common room he had to wait for someone to come out before he could go in. He went to his room and quickly put the cloak away.
In eight minutes, he walked into the dining room, with some sweat on his forehead, "Hey guys, how are you?" asked James, sitting down at the table.
"Better than ever," said Sirius, looking over at the Slytherin table. James also turned his gaze, and a smile broke out on his face. Severus Snape sipped his morning tea with his pale face and stoic expression.
"Rabastan, Avery, and Mulciber already drank. They looked very tired after the fight and replenished their energy," said Lupin in a low tone and with a strange smile.
The group conversed and laughed now and then in low tones as they glanced at the Slytherin table. Lily noticed their strange behavior and looked at them with judging eyes.
Finally, after a few minutes, Rabastan began to feel a slight discomfort on the top of his head, specifically his scalp. He wasn't the only one, his friends felt it too, and were touching their hair without understanding what was going on.
A large number of flowers of all colors began to grow on the boys' heads. Rabastan began to have pink flowers filled with bright beans. Mulciber started to grow very strong purple flowers. Avery was a mixture of colors, one part yellow, one part blue, and one part white.
The boys' faces turned to total incomprehension. Many people at their table had already noticed the gaudy flowers on their heads. Worst of all, the flowers kept growing, Rabastan grew a long multicolored head of flowery hair down to his waist.
Sirius seeing his expression began to laugh out loud as he pointed at it, causing the entire Gryffindor table to turn their attention to him.
"Are those flowers?" asked one girl looking at Rabastan, who despite the distance from the table was very striking.
All the tables began to murmur noticing this strange occurrence. Many laughed seeing the expressions of the arrogant Slytherin who wanted to pull the flowers off, but couldn't, as it was their new hair and it was painful.
"What the hell is this!" shouted Rabastan, plucking a purple flower and feeling pain as if it were his hair.
The best part was not only that but many Slytherin students including Severus Snape and his friends began to have the same symptoms. The Slytherin table began to fill with colorful heads and screams of pain when a student tried to pull the flowers off his or her head.
The Gryffindor table erupted in laughter and began shouting derisive comments at the Slytherin table, making the Slytherin table even angrier.
'Sev!?' thought Lily, surprised to see Snape with a head of hair full of red and yellow flowers. She had to control herself not to start laughing. It was weird to see her friend with so many colors when he was very gloomy.