-oOoOo-
When they reached the boys' dorm, the girls found their head of house waiting on them. That he held family size bags of popcorn was a good indication they weren't in any trouble. He also had a board with him, which intrigued them all until Sirius asked for the four mirrors. He took the four expanded mirrors and placed them flat on the board, his wand touched the centre where the four met and a click was heard. Sirius then placed the board on the wall and the sticking charm held it there.
"We designed this board specifically for you lot, that then led us to see the commercial potential from this system. Padfoot for Thumper."
Dudley appeared on the mirrors but, instead of there being four of him, the mirrors were now acting like one big screen.
"Hi Padfoot, hey guys. Got the video all set up and ready to play, the mirror stand is lined up to. Just wanted to say that was wonderful news you gave Luna Hermione, it really gave her a boost and something to aim for. I'll cover my mirror while I put it in the stand, wouldn't want you to get motion sickness."
The screen then went black as they could here Dudley laughing at his own joke, Luna's news had certainly cheered him up too. They then found themselves staring at the TV screen as Dudley got ready with the remote. Susan was busy dishing out the popcorn into bowls and passing them around as they settled down to watch the video.
The Slytherins found themselves mesmerised by this combination of using what they were told was drawings to tell a tale. They quickly got into the music to and the only slightly sour note was when they discovered the snake was a villain. Once Baloo made his appearance though, that fact was soon forgotten about.
Purebloods, and especially Slytherins, were taught you didn't show your emotions in public so the riotous laughter and singing coming from the first year dorm was always going to attract attention. There were soon loads of upper years sticking their heads in to see just what all the fuss was about. They knew their head of house had been in there earlier so whatever this was had been officially sanctioned.
By the time Sirius made it back with Minerva in tow, over half of his house was now in the dorm and staring at the movie. He'd attempted to explain the device to the headmistress but had failed miserably, watching the amazement on her face was well worth the effort of convincing Minerva to come down here.
"That screen is made up of four mirrors, we've got it up to sixteen in tests before the picture quality starts to be affected. A sixteen mirror unit would be the size of the one we're proposing to place in the great hall."
Minerva's gaze never left the screen as she spoke to her former student. "Tell me again what this can do?"
-oOoOo-
All the first years were tired after being up late last night for their astronomy class, most were at breakfast with the intention of heading back to their dorm for forty winks after they had finished eating. They all paid strict attention though when the headmistress stood and called for a moment of everyone's time.
"Last night, Professor Sirius Black asked me to accompany him to a Slytherin dorm where I witnessed something truly magical. A signal was sent from a muggle home outside London and was watched on a screen in the first year boys' dorm. It was something called a movie."
This had everyone paying close attention, especially those who knew what a movie was.
"All the equipment had been supplied by PMP and the signal was sent by the Potters' nephew from the home of Miss Granger. I understand arrangements have already been made to use this system to show a sport called football on Saturday night."
This drew cheers as people began wondering how to wangle an invite, you couldn't just gatecrash Slytherin house.
"Now the reason that I am standing here mentioning this today is that PMP have approached me with the idea of erecting one of these screens inside the great hall."
This led to a lot more cheering, Minerva almost smiled as she noticed that most of the cheering was coming from Slytherin house.
"This device is still at the development stage so Hogwarts will be getting a preview before anyone else, I'm told this will be the first one anywhere in Britain. PMP are also investigating the possibility of using this screen to show some professional Quidditch matches."
This certainly got a few cheers, the entire school knew how big a Quidditch fan the headmistress was so the screen would definitely be happening.
"I have agreed the screen can be fitted with a trial period of six months set."
This really got everyone cheering now, even Draco and Ron thought the idea of being able to see Quidditch while sitting in the great hall was a brilliant idea.
It would appear only one person in the great hall had a problem with this plan, Lily wasn't slow in confronting James and Sirius with her concerns. "Won't this put pressure on Dudley to keep the screen filled with content? It will also tie up his mirror and he wont be able to chat with the rest of them."
Sirius moved quickly to dispel Lily's concerns. "The screen we're putting in the hall won't be linked to Dudley's mirror, it's a different system altogether. The mirror he'll use will be tied directly to the screen and won't have the functions of their mirrors, it will be purely a transmitter."
James was nodding in agreement as he further explained the thinking behind this. "We plan to have it on the factual channels – discovery – nature, that kind of thing unless showing something special. Once the system is set up in Hermione's room, it will simply be a case of switching it on. The screen in the hall will only respond to commands from the marauders."
This eased Lily's fears somewhat, her husband then proceed to dispel them totally.
"Remus has contacted the Quidditch board about the possibility of beaming a live game into Hogwarts, they went for it immediately and are very excited about the potential of our system. I can see him and Dudley attending the match to send it here, I'm trying to keep Dudley as involved in our magical lives as possible."
James then found a pair of green eyes giving him a look so full of love, longing and passion, the Head of Gryffindor knew he would struggle to get through the rest of the day without grabbing his wife into his arms. He would suggest missing lunch but they would need to come up with an excuse their kids and the Blacks would believe. His wife's smile convinced him he could come up with something, he was a marauder after all.
-oOoOo-
James actually pulled a masterstroke of misdirection. He once more had the hall buzzing and no one noticed the Potters were missing from the staff table at lunchtime. He'd had a word with Rolanda Hooch and pointed her in Minerva's direction. This saw the headmistress stand to address her students for the second time that day.
"I have been advised that this years intake of first year students may contain some real Quidditch talent."
Both Draco Malfoy and Ron Weasley were sure the headmistress was talking about them.
"I have already given my permission for any first years having the skill and ability to be selected for their house team to be allowed to play. Madam Hooch though has brought a Hogwarts rule to my attention. Before a student can take part in a trial for their house Quidditch team, they must first have received a flying lesson within Hogwarts. Since the first house trial is being held on Saturday, the first years will now receive their flying lesson tomorrow."
This announcement excited not only the first years, the rest of the students were left wondering which of the first years could be good enough to make their house team. No first year had made a house Quidditch team in over a hundred years.
Since their next class was transfiguration, Harry and co didn't notice there were no Potters at the staff table. They were too busy looking forward to their lessons.
Sirius was also too busy thanking Rolanda to miss the Potters. His plans for Slytherin dominating this year's Quidditch cup were almost scuppered before it began.
-oOoOo-
James Potter bounced into his class, a wide grin plastered on his face, and immediately captured his students' attention by transfiguring his desk into a giant frog. It gave a very loud croak and had the class laughing before the professor changed it back into his desk.
"That, young witches and wizards, is transfiguration. This is one of the most difficult and demanding branches of magic, it is also one of the most rewarding."
At this, their professor disappeared, leaving a magnificent stag in his place.
A certain four Slytherins had been waiting for this very event and sprang into action. Hermione was out her seat and produced a carrot from her robes that she'd brought for this very purpose. Susan was right behind her. Prancer was soon munching on the offered carrot and enjoying both girls scratching him between his antlers.
Now that the girls were blocking the stag's view, Neville and Harry took out the Christmas tree baubles and used their wands to levitate the delicate and shiny balls onto Prancer's antlers. Mission accomplished, the girls made it back to their seats. Their classmates were now sniggering and giggling at this noble beast that now had baubles dangling from its horny extremities.
As Prancer reverted once more into James Potter, the delicate baubles crashed onto the stone floor of the castle. They shattered into thousands of tiny pieces but it was the cloud of green gas they emitted that held everyone's attention. Anyone who'd ever watched the Wizard of Oz would recognise the effect as the one used when the wicked witch appeared/disappeared. They would also recognise the effect on Professor Potter. He now had green skin and a large, unsightly wart on his nose.
The class held its collective breath, desperate to laugh but terrified as to how their professor would react to being pranked.
James could clearly see he had green hands and suspected the rest of his body would be verdigris too, another transfiguration spell and the blackboard became a full-length mirror. He was fighting to control his laughter at the prank they had pulled off. Though James Potter was marauder, he was also a Hogwarts professor and had to maintain classroom discipline. This forced him to take some action.
"Now what we saw here today was a nice use of misdirection, a good skill for defence. Then charms were used to place the items where they needed to be, lastly potions were required to achieve the required affect."
There was not a sound as the class waited to see what would happen next.
"Quite impressive if I say so myself. Unfortunately, this is your transfiguration class. Since none was used, I'm left with no option but to deal with the perpetrators of this scheme."
He paused to let that sink in before continuing. "Bones, Granger, Longbottom and Potter, you will now be spending your Sunday with me. I will also be having words with your head of house and your Uncle Remus will definitely be hearing from me. Now, on with today's lesson..."
The class thought the four were in real trouble, they had no idea the quartet were already planning on spending Sunday with Professor Potter anyway. The four could also imagine the talk with Sirius would be full of laughter while Remus might get a bit of a ribbing for providing them with the potion.
Slytherin actually ended the lesson twenty points up after all four received five points each for effortlessly transfiguring their matches into needles. Since they were the only students in the class to manage this feat of magic, no accusation of favouritism could be levelled at the professor.
-oOoOo-
Dean couldn't wait to tell the Weasley twins they were right about Professor Potter being a stag. The twins' reaction on hearing a first hand account of the prank that the four snakelets had pulled was complicated and somewhat unexpected.
Fred and George found themselves feeling amazed, delighted and depressed all at the same time. Amazed four first years had managed to pull it off, delighted too that someone had finally gotten one over their new head of house and one of their idols. They were also depressed though that these four Slytherins appeared destined to take on the mantle as this generation's marauders.
Pranking the Brown girl appeared to be purely opportunistic, they had seen the chance and took it. This latest effort though was an entirely different league of pranking. Their take down of Professor Potter required careful planning, precise coordination, a fair bit of skill and a rather large dose of nerve.
At the moment the Weasley twins were forced to admit four kids who hadn't been in the castle a week yet were outclassing them. This state of affairs couldn't be allowed to continue for any length of time, they would have to regroup, study and learn from these Slytherins.
After all, these were not any ordinary kids but young witches and wizards who'd been raised by the marauders. Life was all about challenges and they both knew they had a massive one on their hands. They may be losing the battle at the moment but Fred and George Weasley were determined to win the pranking war.
-oOoOo-
Barty Crouch felt he had won his war but the imminent release of the former death eaters might see a few more battles still having to be fought. The minister for magic wasn't worried, these people would soon find themselves facing a very different magical Britain from the one they knew a decade ago. Barty was certain that if those trials had been held tomorrow, he would be guaranteed the verdicts he originally wanted all those years ago. There would have been one large dementor picnic as they fed on the souls of these scum.
As minister, he'd pushed hard to get reforms into their society that simply wouldn't have been possible back then. Barty considered it rather ironic that the death eaters not only provided the political impetus for these changes, they financed them too.
The wizarding economy benefited greatly from the massive injection of gold their asset stripping allowed. Those witches and wizards who were most resistant to change were the same ones whose legitimate businesses were suddenly making them a lot wealthier. In any contest between wealth and tradition, gold would win with these people every time. Not only was the wizarding economy booming, the country had never been safer. Those were two big factors in seeing Barty re-elected minister twice in the last ten years.
Amelia Bones had used the extra funds provided from the death eater captures to restructure and rebuild their auror force into something the ministry was rightly proud of. Barty had his ministry adopting the philosophy of speaking softly but carrying a big stick. Their auror department was one hell of a big stick, and the minister made sure everyone knew it. Crime was at an all time low.
When you then factored in a national newspaper that had built on its reputation for investigative reporting and campaigning for things people actually wanted, you had a world that would appear alien to a person from a decade ago.
The Prophet had already started another popular campaign to monitor the released prisoners closely, and to have them returned to Azkaban at the first sign of trouble. With a chief reporter who had an incredible knack of sniffing out a story, Rita Skeeter should see a few of the death eaters back in their former quarters before too long.
Yes their society had changed beyond recognition but one thing still remained the same, Barty's determination to see every one of these death eater bastards suffer as much as he had.
Barty had dedicated his life to reaching the top of his chosen profession, becoming minister though was a rather hollow victory in the end. Not only did Barty have no one to share his achievement with, he no longer had a son to pass his legacy onto. The law may say these people had served their time and should be set free, that didn't mean Barty had to agree with it. If Rita Skeeter or Amelia Bones got anything on these scum, they would once more be his. One toe out of line and they would be back inside their recently vacated cells quicker than they could say 'dark lord'.
-oOoOo-