‘You know, this is entirely your fault!’

‘What? Why me? You’re the one who had the idea for the prank!’

‘You were the first to say that we should prank him!’ James Potter argued.

‘Since when do you need me to tell you who deserves a prank?’ Sirius Black shot back.

It was as per normal. James Potter and Sirius Black, infamous sixteen year old Gryffindors, would think of a prank and look for the person to be the victim, or decide that a student (or sometimes a teacher) was in desperate need to get pranked. Their friend, Remus Lupin, would occasionally provide them with useful charms to get the prank working, and Peter Pettigrew… well, Peter had once or twice thought up a prank, too. He mostly supported them, though – in whatever they needed help in.

The boys’ favourite victim was, by far, a student of Slytherin House, Severus Snape. Everyone knew that the Marauders and Snape just didn’t get along. And this was proven by James one day:

‘It’s more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean.’ *

This time they had pranked Severus Snape, and like many times before, they, as the culprits, had been caught. Receiving a detention was the appropriate punishment for such actions, but none of the boys knew what kind of detention they were actually going to face this time. They at least reckoned that it couldn’t get too bad. After all, Filch, the caretaker, once had them clean the toilets with toothbrushes. That had been the worst detention they had had to endure in their entire school career so far. Any other detention could only be half as bad – at least that was what the boys always hoped.

They had been standing in front of Professor McGonagall’s office for some time, waiting to be called inside, when James and Sirius had started arguing. But before their discussion morphed into a catfight, Remus stepped in-between them. ‘Guys, done is done. She caught us, we have a detention set. So forget your argument on whose fault it is. It’s not going to change our current situation.’

Both black-haired boys shot their friend a look that yelled ‘Traitor!’, but, with simultaneously sagging shoulders, they stopped their quarrel.

‘Sorry, Moony, we got a bit carried away there.’

Remus raised his eyebrows. ‘Carried away a bit?’

James grinned sheepishly. ‘Or maybe a little bit more than just a bit.’

‘Ah…’

Suddenly the door, in front of which they waited, opened, and their Transfiguration teacher and Head of House stood on the threshold. She sternly looked at the four teenage boys over her square-framed glasses for some time before she stepped aside and bade them entrance. Slowly they did as ordered.

The office was relatively big in comparison to the other professors’ offices, mainly due to the huge bookshelf standing against the left wall, filled with various tomes, some thicker than others. The walls of Professor McGonagall’s office were painted in a cool ivory. No one would have known that the strict teacher was Gryffindor’s Head of House if it wasn’t for the red and gold coloured scarf hanging on the wall behind the big mahogany desk.

‘Have a seat, gentlemen.’ The professor waved her wand, and four neat looking chairs appeared out of thin air in front of her desk, behind which the professor sat herself down. When the four boys were seated, she passionately began, ‘I despise your actions on Mr Snape, as you all very well know. Never before have I seen such a nasty incident.’ She shot each of the four boys a threatening glare. ‘What could have possibly possessed you to charm Mr Snape’s cauldron like that? He could have been seriously injured.’

A murmur that sounded suspiciously like ‘Sure, Siriusly’ came from the boy seated at her left. Professor McGonagall had heard it although the black-haired boy had spoken in a very low voice.

‘Mr Black, this is nothing to joke about. The potion to create Bulbadox Powder is very difficult to concoct and can get wrong easily. But I daresay you didn’t even think before you acted in this childish manner.’

James tried to explain. ‘Professor, see, we were actually supposed to brew the Draught of Living Death –’

‘And you think that would have been better? Mr Potter, I –’

She didn’t continue though. Instead, she clasped her hands over her heart. Apparently, the imagination of what could have happened was enough to let her become speechless for a moment.

‘You should very well know that when the Draught of Living Death is consumed, you fall into a deep slumber that it is very difficult to wake from.’ The boys nodded. ‘Then, I ask you, why? What was the point of getting Mr Snape’s cauldron to explode?’

‘Actually,’ Peter spoke up and received a glare from James which he ignored, ‘we charmed the cauldron so that it would sneeze and spit back the ingredients that Snape added.’ The boy’s voice had dropped with every word until it was a mere whisper.

The silence that followed was tense; one could have grasped it with their fingers.

‘I am disgusted, boys. Absolutely disgusted. To even come up with such a nasty idea…’ She shook her head. ‘And then you sit here and don’t even regret your despicable actions? But, Merlin forbid, none of your previous detentions have done anything to make you feel regret of any sort. Over and over again you’re causing mayhem with your so-called “pranks�.

‘The headmaster and I have therefore thought of another punishment. It is different from anything you’ve done before, and although you might think it lax and low, it definitely is not.’ She shot each boy a long, meaningful look over the rim of her glasses and then continued, much calmer. ‘I therefore urge you to put your every effort into it. You must work for at least two hours daily to let it count as your detention. Every minute above that is counted as your private time you choose to spend on the task. And it is asked that you do this detention properly.’

The boys threw each other questioning glances. What Professor McGonagall had told them sounded like a lot of work, although she had not yet clarified what they were exactly going to face.

‘Err, Professor,’ Sirius tentatively asked after a few moments of silence, ‘what exactly are we supposed to do? And how long will it take?’

‘You’re not allowed to call the detention finished before Miss Vance says so.’

‘And the detention task is…’ James pressed, but Peter gulped audibly next to him. One quick side-glance at his friend told James that it wasn’t going to be as easy as they had hoped.

‘You’re going to assist Miss Vance in writing this month’s issue of the school newspaper.’

The smile on Professor McGonagall’s face was lost upon the boys when they gaped at each other in shock.

Peter knew that, without a doubt, Emmeline Vance was a good student. And she was a brilliant witch. But he also knew that she was the very stern chief editor of Magical Moments – Hogwarts’ very own school newspaper. Emmeline Vance was even known to be sterner than Professor McGonagall.

The detention wouldn’t be an easy getaway by any chance, and it was indicated the very next day when the editorial staff held their regular beginning-of-the-month meeting.

‘All right, everyone, here it goes,’ Emmeline Vance spoke up when everyone was assembled in the Transfiguration classroom which was used as the editorial staff’s headquarters. ‘First, I’d like to remind you of the importance of this month’s issue. It’s the paper’s fifth anniversary and it should be something special for the readers.’ She halted next to the window, looked briefly around, then turned and walked back to the door. Emmeline usually paced up and down when giving out directions to her newspaper’s team. The staff was used to her antics, but, to the Marauders, her pacing was rather irritating.

‘I’ve already looked at your suggestions and ideas,’ she continued, ‘and I’ve found them all very interesting. I am positive that we can include them all, although some can only be included in a lesser extent than others. But the decision about which articles are going to be the issue’s main focus we shall discuss later.’ She turned as she reached the door and started her journey back to the window. ‘All I ask for now is that every one of you should work on the ideas you suggested next to your regular topics and then hand the drafted articles in. I think two weeks should be sufficient for this.

‘Oh, and before I release you to start working flat out, I have the honour,’ she sarcastically exclaimed, looking at the Marauders as she passed them, an ironic smile playing around her lips, ‘to say that for this month’s issue we have gained the support of these four fine men, who volunteered to help us with this month’s issue.’

Some of the other students looked puzzled, others shocked, while a third group coughed out with humour. Not one of the editorial staff believed that the Marauders had enlisted of their own accords. Whispers about detention quickly worked the circuit, but they were silenced with a commanding wave of Emmeline’s hand. She then turned to address the four boys.

‘Black, you’re going to work with Robert Clarkson. Potter, I want you to assist Penny Henderson.’ James shot a look in the mentioned girl’s direction and grinned at her winningly. She simply ignored this.

‘Lupin, I entrust you with the readers’ questions section. Tiffany, who usually does the job, has excused herself for this month.’ Remus slowly nodded.

‘And Pettigrew, I want you to help John Summer.’

She clasped her hands together. ‘That is all for the moment. If there are no more questions today, we’ll see each other the next meeting. Good day, people.’

‘This sucks!’ Sirius exclaimed vehemently when the four boys walked back to Gryffindor Tower after they had been dismissed. ‘I can’t believe we’ve got to invest so much time for this stupid magazine.’

‘Newspaper, Padfoot, newspaper,’ Remus corrected him quietly.

‘Whatever.’

‘What are you pondering over, Prongs?’ Peter asked. James hadn’t said a single word since they’d left the meeting room, and appeared lost in his thoughts. Even now he didn’t give an answer; Peter turned to Remus and Sirius with a helpless look on his good-natured face.

They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, and once Remus had given her the password – ‘Billywig’ – they scrambled through it and entered their common room. But instead of seating themselves in their favourite cosy armchairs by the brightly crackling fire, the four friends went directly up to their dormitory. It wasn’t until Remus closed the door behind them that James spoke.

‘I’ve been thinking.’

‘Wow! That’s news,’ Sirius replied, grinning; he received a glare.

‘Funny, Pads. But I think we can help this newspaper becoming a success, a huge success.’ His eyes gleamed mischievously.

Remus groaned. ‘Prongs, we already have a detention set. No need to get us into another one before we have finished the current one we’re stuck in.’

The black-haired boy dismissed this with a wave of his hand. ‘Don’t be so negative, Moony. My idea is failsafe.’

Peter snickered while Sirius sarcastically exclaimed, ‘Sure. That’s why we’ve received detention in the first place, because your ideas are “failsafe�.’

Giving out another glare towards his best mate, James sat down on his bed and said, ‘We’ll bring something new in, something that they’ve never seen before.’

---

* Quote from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, chapter twenty-eight Snape’s Worst Memory, page 570 (British edition, Bloomsbury)

‘Do you think Miss Norris should wear a bow?’

‘What?’ the girl asked, surprised at being addressed out of the blue with such a random question.

‘You know, a nice pink one between her ears would suit her,’ the questioner continued and scribbled a few words down onto the clipboard he was carrying. He looked up at her again, and scrutinising her carefully, added, ‘Don’t you think she should?’

Dorcas Meadowes rolled her eyes, shook her head and side-stepped him. ‘Potter, you’re nuts.’ Fastening the strap of her bag on her shoulder, she hurried away. Her friends had waited at the end of the corridor and now huddled around her, without a doubt wanting to question what James Potter had wanted.

‘You need to approach them differently, Prongs,’ Remus advised when he reached the place where his friend stood. He received a glare, which he took with a chuckle. ‘Aw, is the famous James Potter offended?’ he mocked.

‘Thanks for your help,’ James shot back, pouting, and then clamping the clipboard under his arm. Taking up his bag, he walked on, Remus following closely behind.

They walked in silence for some time before James spoke again. ‘What do you suggest?’

Since Remus had waited for James to ask him for his advice, he had the answer already prepared. ‘Don’t scare them,’ he said. ‘You need to address them only when they see you coming towards them. This way they get a chance to be prepared. Jumping in front of someone to ask a random question without even saying hello or anything else is considered impolite.’

‘Hmm…’

‘Why not try to make it in a written form? You could always prepare a kind of questionnaire and hand it out. This way you can ask more questions, and get back a variety of answers and opinions. Maybe some will write down ideas of what to include or leave out.’

James said nothing for a while, pondering over what his friend had suggested. But then a question formed in his mind and he asked, ‘Who’s going to receive these questionnaires?’

‘Well,’ Remus thought while he and James turned into the hallway that led to Gryffindor Tower, ‘you can hand them out personally in the common room or maybe during meals’ time in the Great Hall. You could also display them – in the classrooms, for example, but this might cause trouble with the teachers. Possibilities are in the Great Hall, in the common rooms… There are many different places.’

‘What about in the library?’

‘Good idea. Should have thought of that myself,’ Remus replied. ‘But you should clarify your displaying with Madame Pince first. You know how she gets when anyone steps over the line she has drawn in her rules.’

‘Yeah…’ James vaguely replied. They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, and Remus gave the password while James asked, ‘And how do I get the questionnaires into the other houses’ common rooms?’

Remus was about to step through the hole but upon being spoken to he paused, turned around and ogled at James. ‘You cannot be serious? You, of all people, should by now be able to pull this off, and yet you ask me?’ His voice vibrated with suppressed laughter. ‘Prongs, I’m –’

But whatever Remus had wanted to say went lost when another person from inside the common room spoke up, ‘Did I hear my name there? No one can be Sirius, because that’s who I am.’

Have you ever wondered how Professor Dumbledore would look without his long beard? Or what Miss Norris would be like when wearing a fluffy pink bow? If you could answer the above questions with a hearty yes, then you should read on.

Slowly, Remus let the piece of parchment sink into his lap. Dumbstruck, he stared up at James who stood next to his bed, grinning like a child for which Christmas had come early and had brought many good presents.

‘So, any good?’ the black-haired boy asked enthusiastically.

‘Prongs… James…’ Remus shook his head. ‘Well… you know, when I suggested a questionnaire, I didn’t think of…’ he lifted the parchment and waved it in front of his face, ‘I didn’t think of this.’

‘How else should I have written it? Oh, come on, Moony, it’s good. Everyone will like it. They’ll answer them.’

‘And where did you get this spell from?’ Remus asked out of curiosity when he browsed the parchment again.

‘Well… you’d like to know, wouldn’t you?’ James replied cockily and snatched the questionnaire out of Remus’ hand before the other boy could react. ‘See ya! I’m going to hand these out now!’ With a wink and a huge pile of parchment questionnaires stacked under his arm, the dark-haired boy left the dorm, leaving behind an even more dumbfounded Remus Lupin, who could only sigh and hope that his friend was not going to make a complete fool out of himself.

Two days later, after a wearisome Quidditch training, James entered the dormitory he shared with his three friends to find Sirius and Peter sitting on the floor, surrounded by many pieces of parchment. ‘What the he—’ he began, but was interrupted by Remus who stepped into the circular room after him.

‘You should have seen it coming, Prongs. With that spell of yours…’ he trailed off when he received a glare. Remus chuckled; his friend seemed to distribute glares frequently and very freely in the last days.

‘Oi, Prongs!’ Sirius greeted them then, having just noticed their entrances. ‘That’s an interesting read. Who’s written that?’ He waved with a bunch of pieces of parchment clutched into his fist.

James sighed and dropped his broomstick next to his bed, then sank tiredly onto the soft mattress. ‘That would be me.’

‘You?’ Peter asked and looked up, staring at James. ‘Is this for your detention part?’

‘Correctly guessed.’

Remus sat down too, and now asked, ‘Can you read something aloud, Padfoot?’

Sirius grinned and picked one piece of parchment that lay a little way apart of the rest of the pile, he smoothed the wrinkles out and began to read in a voice that clearly suggested how much fun he thought it was.

Everyone knows Hogwarts’ motto: Draco Dormiens Tunquam Titillandus – Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon. But how can we know that this motto is correct? No one has ever seen a dragon personally, or have you? To teach us this motto could be a trick of the older generations to keep us away from dragons. But why should they do so? Simply because we could find out that dragons aren’t the dangerous creatures they are described to be. I mean, just ask our own Rubeus Hagrid. He swears that dragons are loveable, harmless creatures that are vastly misunderstood.

‘Lupin!’ Emmeline Vance called, and Remus turned around. He had been on the way to the library when the older girl caught up with him.

‘Yes? What can I do for you?’ he asked politely after greeting her.

She smiled warmly. ‘Good that you would ask.’ Briefly rummaging in her bag, she unearthed three rolls of parchment. ‘These are two readers’ letters with questions,’ she explained, handing him the roles of parchment. ‘I want you to draft a response which we’re going to publish. On the third roll are instructions of how to proceed and where to look for the information you’re going to need. Please hand in your answers’ version on Thursday evening at the latest. Thank you.’ She nodded once and then briskly strolled away, disappearing in the throng of students that were heading down to dinner.

Remus didn’t even have the time to remark that she had only given him two days for the work. With a sigh and pitying look at the rolls, he entered the library, trying to refocus on his Potions homework.

It was already late, and while his Potions essay lay out on his bed to dry, Remus opened the parchment rolls Emmeline had given him earlier.

The first one he read contained the directions. It didn’t say much; basically, she wanted him to carefully read both readers’ letters, then go to the library to research one of them. In the end, he needed to phrase replies that would supply the letters’ authors with the wanted information.

But when Remus opened the first of the other two rolls of parchment, his mouth was left gaping open…

Dear Magical Moments staff,

Yours truly.

He had no idea how to handle that letter. Founding a club was not a privilege a member of the school newspaper staff possessed; it was only within the headmaster’s powers. And a duelling club, as logical and feasible as it sounded, was a dangerous extracurricular activity. A teacher would have to watch out for the members when they practised. They would need someone first teaching the students defensive spells and charms even. Remus shook his head. That idea would probably not make it.

Grabbing a new piece of parchment, Remus dipped his quill into the ink bottle and started phrasing a possible answer:

Dear loyal reader,

We think your idea of a duelling club is wonderful. We, the editorial staff of Magical Moments, will try everything humanly possible to bring such a club into existence. Just grant us some time, and we will talk it through with our dear Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore. Of course, any progress we make will be published in Magical Moments.

Your Magical Moments editorial staff.

After Remus had put down his quill, he took up the parchment and reread the letter he had written.

He flinched. It sounded cheesy, and absolutely not like something he would write. What was up with him? When had he become such a… wimp?

He crumbled the answer and threw it into the nearest bin. No, I can’t give Emmeline that to be published. It reads awful, he thought and took up his quill once more. Dipping the tip into the ink bottle, he contemplated of how to phrase the letter differently. After a few moments, he rewrote the letter.

Dear loyal reader,

He halted mid-word. ‘What in Merlin’s name –?’ he began, then scratched out the lines and started again, beneath. But no matter how often he wrote the letter anew, it turned out to always be the same cheesy one he had written the first time.

Once again, he crumbled the parchment and threw it into the bin, then he got up and started pacing up and down the dormitory. He couldn’t walk too far because the floor was littered with various possessions of his three friends, but he managed to walk himself a little path between all the shirts and books.

Remus had completely lost track of the time when the dormitory door opened, and his friends entered. Upon seeing Remus walking up and down, like a big animal confined in a cage, they looked at each other questioningly. When none of the three had an answer and could only shrug with the shoulders, they turned to look at Remus. He had yet to stop pacing.

‘Moony, old friend,’ Sirius began, but was interrupted by James who bluntly asked, ‘What’s got your wand into a knot?’

For the first time in minutes, Remus halted, directly in front of James. He looked tired and ran his hands over his face, rubbing his eyes. It didn’t help much; the only result he got was that his already pale face was now shining unhealthily red in the waning moon’s light.

Remus sat down on the edge of his bed. ‘I got some rolls of parchment from Emmeline today, for my part of the newspaper.’ The other boys’ looks wandered to their friend’s desk. ‘She gave me two letters. I wrote an answer to the first letter, but it’s… it reads awfully cheesy and absolutely not like something I would write.’

Sirius grinned. He swiftly walked towards the bin and fished one of the two crumbled parchment balls out. ‘Is that this one?’ he asked, but didn’t wait for an answer before smoothing the parchment out. He read, with James and Peter looking over his shoulder.

It didn’t take too long before all three burst out laughing; Peter had tears rolling down his cheeks. ‘That’s really not you, Moony,’ Sirius said, passing the parchment to James because he himself was doubling over in laughter.

Remus pouted. ‘I gave it my best.’

‘Did you try rewriting it?’ Peter asked, wiping away the tears.

Remus nodded. ‘Yes, several times.’ He pointed at the second crumbled ball of parchment. ‘But it always turns out to be the exact same answer. I guess I’m… jinxed to write that awful letter…’ His voice trailed away.

‘Now we’re here to help you out, Moony,’ James said, and Remus couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread growing inside him.

‘Prongs, what are you doing?’ Sirius hissed, alarmed.

His messy-haired best friend was rummaging around on Remus’ dresser, not caring that he caused chaos among the usually neatly placed possessions of their owner. But James didn’t care; it was necessary that he found the rolls of parchment.

‘James, I’m talking to you,’ Sirius said, his voice irritated. He wasn’t used to being ignored like this by his mate and therefore grabbed James by his upper arm.

James merely brushed Sirius’ hand away. ‘Don’t worry, Padfoot. I know what I’m doing.’ He shot his friend a grin over his shoulder.

Sirius sighed, but he had a strange feeling awaken in his stomach. He had never before experienced something like this; it was new to him. And it felt… wrong. ‘We shouldn’t search Moony’s possessions. It’s not nice.’

‘Also, what could Remus have that you haven’t?’ asked Peter from where he sat on the bed, putting on his socks.

James, who had crouched in front of Remus’ dresser, stood up, took his wand out of his robes’ pocket and rearranged Remus’ items with one swish. He then started pacing up and down the room, trying to think of a place where his friend could have placed the wanted items.

A waving hand appeared in the sixteen-year-old’s vision. ‘Did you even hear Wormtail’s question, James?’ Sirius asked. His voice was calm, but the angry tone was clearly audible. James stopped pacing mid-step and shot an unreadable look at Sirius.

Silence fell. None of the boys spoke or even moved; not even Peter dared to continue dressing. Time ticked slowly by, and the rising sun entered the dormitory through the tower windows. It coloured the stone walls in a flaming red that let the four posters’ bed covers gleam brightly, and the albeit early warm rays of sunlight stroked softly across the three boys’ cheeks, kissing them good morning.

At one point, Remus entered the room, fully dressed, his book bag strapped over his left shoulder. The scene he met caused him to halt. ‘What happened with you?’ he asked, looking from Peter, over to Sirius, to James and back again.

His words woke Peter out of his numbness. ‘Prongs and Padfoot were… eh…’ He trailed off, having no clear idea why exactly his two dark-haired friends were staring at each other. Peter caught Remus’ eyes and shrugged helplessly. He then went back to putting on his socks.

‘Okay,’ Remus said slowly, taking a deep breath. ‘Are you two going to tell me what’s got your wands in knots?’ He folded his arms in front of his chest, shooting James and Sirius long questioning looks.

Sirius squirmed slightly. Remus missed the motion, but James saw it immediately. Don’t tell him, he seemed to mouth, another movement Remus missed. But Sirius got the message and gave a soft nod to indicate he had understood. His grey eyes, however, told James volumes in return that he wanted an answer to what James had been searching for on Remus’ dresser.

James’ lips formed a pout, but Sirius’ look made clear that if James wouldn’t tell him, he, Sirius, would tell Remus.

‘You know, it’s sometimes frightening the way that you two can have entire conversations with your eyes only. It’s like you’re possessing telekinetic powers,’ Remus remarked jokingly after a while in which nothing had been said. And yet, the whole time, both Sirius and James had sent message after message through their facial expressions only. They were in the end having a heated argument, but not a single syllable had ever left the lips of any of these boys.

Though, upon Remus’ words, Sirius and James looked up towards their friend guiltily.

‘Sorry, Moony,’ Sirius began. ‘We never wanted to exclude you from our… discussion or not answer your question. If it hadn’t been for James here, it would never have happened.’ He grinned apologetically.

‘Oh, now I’m the one who started it, am I?’ James asked, folding his arms in front of his chest, pouting.

‘You know what?’ Remus said lightly. ‘I don’t even want to know anymore.’ He clapped both of their backs, and then turned to go. ‘See you later, guys!’

The door that closed behind Remus didn’t make much noise – no more than usual, that is – but to the three boys in the room it was like a bomb exploding and engulfing the room in utter silence.

Setting his bag down more forcefully than intended at the last free place, Remus received several dark looks and a harsh shushing from the librarian. Madam Pince also only left once the sixteen-year-old youth had mouthed an apology. Much more quietly, he sat down and took out a role of parchment.

‘What happened?’ the girl next to him asked. She was looking at him reproachfully for having disturbed the silence of the library, but the green orbs still conveyed worry.

Remus shrugged. ‘What makes you think something happened?’

Lily didn’t smile. ‘You look exhausted, and at the same time exaggerated and angry. Then, I know you would never be loud in the library unless something was troubling your mind.’ She squinted and gave him a thorough look. ‘What are Potter and Black up to now?’

Remus shot her a look of which he hoped would convey his innocence, but he failed miserably. ‘They’re up to nothing –’ he began, but quickly fell silent again. Lily didn’t even need to say something before Remus continued, ‘They tried to ruin my detention yesterday…’ His eyes caught hers. ‘Our detention,’ he corrected, and then added, ‘And I believe something else came up this morning. They were behaving all weird.’

A smug but little smile played around Lily’s lips, and with a changed tone in her voice, she asked for him to tell her everything – which he did. Their hushed conversation drove away the other two students who had sat down at the table, but neither of the sixth-years minded their loss of presence.

‘By the by, what did you do to receive detention?’

Remus fell silent instantly. He couldn’t tell her; she would hex him and his friends. But her expression, and the questioningly raised eyebrows, made it really hard not to answer.

When he started telling her, he wondered if he had finally found out what Lily Evans’ “charm� on James was.

Running down the corridor, Remus grabbed his bag tightly. Damn! he mentally cursed himself for losing track of the time. I talked with Lily longer than I thought.

The castle’s bell rang loudly, indicating that class was about to start. Remus sped up some more, so as to not arrive too late, but when he rounded the next corner, he ran into someone full speed. Both rang for their balance, and only the other person managed to keep it. Remus toppled over and landed on his behind, his bag landing in his lap rather hard, thanks to the heavy tomes he carried around.

Groaning, Remus looked up. His mouth fell open when he recognised the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, standing in front of him. The old wizard was smoothing out some wrinkles in his robes, then blinked at Remus and offered him a hand to get up.

‘You seem to be in quite a hurry, Remus,’ he said, chuckling, while the youth took the offered hand and got up. Remus looked down on the floor, mumbling an apology. Albus Dumbledore smiled understandingly. ‘Don’t worry, Remus. Nothing happened to me, and I am sure that you’re eager to get to your class.’ He winked, then turned to continue his own way.

Remus was indeed about to hurry on to his Astronomy class when he remembered something. It can’t hurt, can it? ‘Um, Professor Dumbledore,’ he began, and when the older wizard stopped, looking back at him, Remus continued, ‘may I ask you something, sir?’

A little surprised at the question, Albus Dumbledore nodded. ‘Of course. What is it that you want to know?’

‘You see, our detention,’ he started, but was interrupted when the headmaster exclaimed, ‘Ah, I see.’

‘Well, Emmeline Vance…’ He trailed off, looking for a suitable verb. In the end, he settled on a vague choice. ‘… asked me to do the readers’ questions section for the latest issue, and she gave me two letters.’ Albus Dumbledore nodded, indicating that he understood. ‘Well, in one of the letters, a reader asked for a duelling club. Is it possible that you could… maybe… found one?’

The older wizard didn’t say anything for a while, but then he answered, slowly, ‘The idea alone is good, and Merlin knows how important, but…’ He didn’t continue speaking, looking out of the corridor’s window for a while. ‘I would need a teacher supervising the club, to make sure no one gets hurt. And our teachers are currently very busy, with the exams drawing near.’

Remus nodded. ‘I guessed as much, Professor.’ He didn’t have had much hope that the headmaster would excitedly jump up and exclaim the duelling club was to be founded immediately, so the disappointment wasn’t too hard to bear. Though, he had hoped for a bit success at least. ‘I just thought it couldn’t hurt asking you.’

‘Indeed. There are only stupid answers, but never questions.’ He winked again. Remus smiled.

For some moments, no one said anything, but when there was a dull thump from behind them, Remus turned around and saw his book bag having toppled over. The sound they had heard had been when the tomes collided with the stone floor.

And upon the sight of his book bag, Remus remembered that he needed to be in a class. ‘Sorry, Professor, but I have to run. I’m already way too late.’ He hastened over to pick up his bag, and then gave a curt nod to excuse himself.

Albus Dumbledore called after him, ‘Tell your professor I had spontaneously called a meeting with you. He will understand.’

‘Thank you, sir,’ Remus called back before turning the corner and disappearing from Dumbledore’s sight.

Remus’ haste didn’t prevent him from receiving an extra task of homework, though, which lead him to groan silently while sitting down. It would be another long night for him.

Hours later, Remus was found bent over his desk once again. He had finished his homework earlier – the extra task set from the Astronomy professor included – and was now attempting to work on his detention, seeing that the deadline for handing it in was the following day. Though, this time, the second letter was lying open on his desk.

To my most favourite newspaper, Magical Moments,

I loved your last edition, and I’m looking forward to the continuation of “Four Hearts, Two Loves, One Goal�. The story is just amazing.

What I wanted to know is when was Magical Moments first published? Is it possible to get a hold on older issues? If yes, I would be very delighted to read them, too. Because I can just lose myself in everything you write – true magical moments.

Your humble reader.

Remus had followed the instructions on how to look up in the library has a collection of all the issues of the school newspaper, and if this stock contained the first ever published issues of ten years ago. He had asked the librarian once he had finished his essay for Transfiguration, and sure enough, he had found what he had been looking for. Now he was phrasing an answer.

Dear reader,

Thank you for your continued support; we count ourselves lucky to have such a loyal reader. Also, Penny Henderson, the author of “Four Hearts, Two Loves, One Goal�, gives you her warmest regards. She is happy that the readers like her story. And in fact, since this is a special issue, she has written not only one, but two more chapters of her story. Please enjoy!

We thank you for your expression of interest in Magical Moments.

Your Magical Moments staff.