Another glorious morning greeted this new day, as the early sun bestowed both warmness and brightness upon the Scottish highlands. Strolling down the spiraling stairs to the Gryffindor common room, Sirius rejoined his friend.
"Sorry about last night mate." James teased him, for his friend gave him a puzzled look.
"Sorry for what?" Sirius wondered, as he lounged himself down a nearby settee.
"We didn’t get a chance to go to the riverside." James answered. Following their premature prank, they were forced to retreated back inside their dormitory, and thus, preventing them from leaving the castle grounds to venture into the Crumbling Steeple.
"I told you mate, we wouldn’t be missing much." Sirius replied with a fib, as a faint hint of disappointment flickered within his eyes. Has she been there? Waiting for me? He wondered, as he swiftly dismissed the idea. Keenly perceiving his friend’s expression, Remus couldn’t help but smile slightly, as he continued with his reading. The sound of the brass bell resonated throughout the school, marking the beginning of today’s first tier of lessons. The quartet dressed up with haste, and hared down the stairs to the main hall.
"Not so fast you three! And you too Mr Pettigrew." A voice came from behind them. Descending from a stairway adjacent the one leading to their common room, was Professor McGonagall; her expression reflecting discontentment, as she walked to them.
"Morning Professor." James graced her with his usual charming smile.
"Your charm won’t help you Mr Potter." Minerva retorted. "First, Frivolan Tempests! Then Ocres Dust Rain! Followed by Muddy Murky Pudding, and Dark Plummed Juice! And now Impishiun Vimpes Powder? And these misdeeds are only from this year’s second half!" She commented as hopelessness waves across her face. "Can’t you three ever act like normal, thoughtful and well-behaved students? The worst part is, that you learn nothing from all the detentions!" She shook her head.
"Each one of you is a witted and gifted young wizard, yet you act like untamable half baked pups. I don’t know what to do with you three!" She sighed heavily, as she was aware her discourse would most likely go unconsidered. "You leave me no choice, but to send you to Professor Khallavar: detention tonight, in his classroom, for all three of you." She pointed at James, Remus and Sirius. "As for you Mr Pettigrew, in my office after your Herbology lesson. We need to have a talk about those grades of yours." She walked to Sirius.
"Such wasted skills…" She commented. Tightening his tie, and straightening his unkempt uniform, she gave him a reprimanding look. "You shall hand him your wands for the duration of detention. Oh! And best not forget to bring a large caepshell with you… Heed my advice… you will need it." She concluded her lecture. "Now, off you go." She commanded. "You don’t want to add unpunctuality to your already astronomically long list of misdeed, now do you?"
Heeding to her request, they proceeded down to their respective Elective classes: James and Peter parted ways with their companions, to proceed to the Arithmancy Lesson, while Sirius and Remus headed for their Care of Magical Creatures lesson.
Hours passed for their school day came to an end. Professor McGonagall escorted the trio as insurance that they would actually attend detention. She entrusted them to Professor Khallavar, a lean and pale man of silken blonde hair, and piercing onyx like eyes.
"Mr Potter. Mr Lupin. And… Mr Black." The man’s voice was eerily soft and unsettling. "Your wands..." He gestured, for they obliged to his request, a smug grin upon their faces. "I’ll wipe that insolent smirk of your faces…Mark my words, you will remember this detention…" He trailed his words, as he locked the door behind them, with a simple wave of his wand. "Behold! Your punishment…" He smirked, for more than a hundred pairs of little eyes appeared upon the ceiling. Crawling down like spiders from a web, the pygmy creatures soon surrounded them. Their webbed legs leaving a sludge trail, as they sauntered towards the impotent trio. Far more boisterous than Cornish pixies, Daemish pixies were known far and wide, as the wildest of familiars.
