65 Full Moon
That day that everyone thought was about to end and would be like any other in the castle was quite the opposite. The Slytherin common room was infected by a putrid smell and filled with brown smoke.
As the portrait was open, the smell drifted into the corridor where everyone was watching the scene. Many frowned at the horrible smell and held their noses. Luckily Professor Antennae with her wand summoned a current of wind that carried the smell through the open windows to the outside.
Dozens of Slytherin students were red-eyed, nauseous, and dizzy from being in the center of the putrid smell. Madame Poppy, with the help of other teachers, took them to the infirmary.
James luckily did not see among those students Gwen and Emily. It seemed that they had somehow been spared. The ones he could see were Rabastan, who had a very pale complexion and vomit in his mouth. His friends Mulciber and Avery, were the same way.
Sirius wanted to laugh at this but decided to keep quiet and not draw attention to himself, as he knew that if they were caught they would be in a lot of trouble.
Then the professors along with Dumbledore cast a spell that made a bubble appear on their heads and all over their bodies, and they entered the Slytherin common room.
After about ten minutes, they came out with many Slytherin girls including Gwen and Emily, who also had bubbles covering their entire bodies, protecting them from the horrible smell.
This group of girls managed to take shelter in their rooms, saving themselves from the dungbomb attack.
"Well done, everyone. There are no students left inside the hall and dormitories," said Dumbledore in a calm tone.
"Now, let's go back inside and try to make the common room as good as new," he added as walked through the portrait with the other professors.
They spent an hour inside the room, casting cleaning spells and such to try to make the Slytherin common room habitable. It was difficult, as the smell had infiltrated the walls, furniture, etc.
"There is only a very faint smell left, which will go away over the next few days," said McGonagall with an annoyed face as she stepped out of the portrait hole.
"We must find the perpetrators! This incident is unacceptable!" shouted Slughorn angrily, as he rarely did. It was normal since he was the head of Slytherin house and the common room of Slytherin was attacked by dungbombs.
"There is an inspection to be done in each house, Dumbledore!" added Slughorn, looking at the old headmaster, who seemed to be in his world as he examined an object in the palm of his hand.
"Slughorn, whoever it was. It had to have been a Slytherin. Who else has the password?" said McGonagall.
"Why would a Slytherin attack his own house and leave it in such a condition, Minerva!" said Slughorn, sounding very frustrated.
McGonagall was silent. The Potions professor had a point. Although the girls' dormitory was spared, many of them were affected as they were in the common room studying or talking to friends. It didn't make sense that it was a Slytherin, as it left their common room with a putrid smell that should linger for days.
"Still, let's say they got the password somehow. How did they get into the house unseen and start the attack?" asked McGonagall doubtfully. It was rare for a student from another house to enter someone else's common room and not be noticed quickly, as it was prohibited.
"There are many ways they could have used to go unnoticed, such as a disillusioning charm," said Slughorn in annoyance.
"Using Fumos or Nebulus, it stands to reason that they could have carried out the attack," said Antennae, joining the conversation.
"Exactly! We must interrogate the other houses!" said Slughorn, returning to the attack.
"Settle down, colleagues," said Dumbledore. His expression always remained the same, neither exasperated nor angry.
"Look what I found," added the old man with some amusement as he held out his palm to the professors. In Dumbledore's palm was a small brown sphere.
"That's a Zonko product," said Slughorn in disgust at the sight of the dungbomb.
"Yes. I wonder how many of these must have been used to create that toxic cloud," said Dumbledore with a strange smile.
"We should ban all Zonko products!" suggested Filch, who was standing near the professors. Many prankster students used Zonko products which caused a lot of trouble for him and his cat.
...
Sunday, January 30, 1972.
Several days passed since the dungbomb prank, and it was the only thing that was talked about in the Great Hall, the corridors, and even in the classrooms, where many teachers had to give punishments so that the students would be quiet.
The dozen Slytherin students who were taken to the infirmary were all in good health by now, needing only a day to recover, as it was nothing too serious.
The perpetrators were not found. The only clue they left was the small dungbomb that didn't explode because it was faulty. Besides that, there is no trace of them.
Many Slytherin students were outraged, especially the girls who had to bathe many times to get the rotten smell out of their bodies. Many of them from wealthy families, gave galleon rewards to people who provided any evidence that would help find the perpetrators.
Peter and Toby were scared to death in case they were found, but luckily that didn't happen, and the anger subsided.
With each passing day Sirius, one of the main perpetrators, became more arrogant as he heard the crazy rumors about them. They even had a fan club, which fed his ego even more.
"We have a fan club! Should I join?" asked Sirius, lying on his bed lazily and with a big grin.
"Don't shout that stuff outside the dormitory," Lupin said with a frown.
"I know. Anyway, no one thinks it was us. Everyone thinks it was older students, using complicated charms. The invisibility cloak is our best weapon," Sirius said with a chuckle.
Lupin huffed in annoyance. He was in a bad mood, and talking to Sirius was only making it worse. If they had followed Sirius' plan (entering the common room without potions, or the Fumos charm.) They would have been caught by now and would have been grounded or expelled.
"Where are you going?" asked Sirius as he noticed Lupin heading for the door.
"Eat," he replied dryly and impatiently as he walked out of the dormitory and slammed the door shut.
"What's wrong with him?" asked Sirius with a confused expression.
"Hey you, let's go to dinner," said Sirius, throwing a pillow that hit right in James' face.
James found himself reading the book: The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-protection. He didn't want to skip a charm like Fumos which was very helpful.
As for the prank, he wasn't as enthusiastic as Sirius. He didn't like that there were so many students going to the infirmary as much as they only had to go for one day, he thought it got out of hand.
James didn't calculate that the combined smell of 100 dungbombs would merge and create something worse, making several Slytherin boys dizzy and nauseous. Besides, the only ones he disliked were Rabastan and his gang, there were other kids he didn't know, and he wasn't prejudiced against them.
Gwen and Emily were his friends, and they were both from Slytherin, so there could be people he liked in the house and not be like Rabastan.
'Well, there's nothing I can do now...' thought James as he looked at Sirius.
"Is it already so late?" asked James, closing the book and throwing the pillow back at his friend.
"Yeah, come on," said Sirius, standing up and fixing his hair.
"And the others?" asked James, noticing that it was just him and Sirius in the room.
"..." Sirius looked at James weirdly as Lupin shut the door abruptly. As for Toby and Peter, they were doing homework.
After a delicious dinner, they went back to the dormitory, except Lupin, who again said he was feeling sick and headed for the infirmary. James and the others wanted to join him, but he flatly and with little patience refused, so they left him alone.
"Same again?" asked Peter as he walked back with the others to the Gryffindor common room.
"All day today, he looked bad, and his mood was terrible. He must be feeling bad..." said Sirius, not too sure about this.
When they got to the living room, James and Sirius had to get on with their homework for tomorrow, Monday. Peter and Toby had already done it, so they set about playing a game of magic chess.
After writing more than two scrolls in full, James went to bed. Lupin had not yet returned, but they were used to it, so no one talked about it.
James was sleeping peacefully in his comfortable bed, until at one point he opened his eyes abruptly and woke up.
"Phew... it was just a nightmare," he muttered as he opened the dark red velvet curtain. The nightmare was that he found himself in the Rothschild mansion and was once again living his routine life controlled by his former mother, Elizabeth.
It wasn't the first time he had this nightmare. He usually started having these dreams when he moved away from his mother and father.
Feeling his mouth dry, he grabbed a glass of water from his bedside table and quietly hydrated himself as he looked out the window. It was still night.
'Today, there's a full moon...' thought James as he looked out at the beautiful white, oversized moon.
'Wait... Full moon!' thought James as he set the glass down abruptly on the bedside table and looked out the window at the moon again.
A crazy idea flashed into his head. His friend, Lupin, disappeared once a month for the whole night, an occurrence that seemed very strange to the marauders. No matter how much they questioned him, Lupin said he was sick and went to the infirmary.
Lupin would show up the next day looking pale and unhealthy as if he was knackered. That would last for a couple of days until he was back to normal.
James could see by the moonlight coming through the window that Lupin's bed was empty with the curtains open.
'Don't tell me Lupin...' thought James with a surprised look.
'He's a werewolf?'
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