The Prank of a Lifetime || Sirius & James || July 27th, 1976
The Hogwarts owl should be arriving any moment now. July was ending soon and despite the fact that the summer time was in it’s prime, the school was approaching. Usually, all four of the Marauders would get their letters around the same time, only a few hours away from each other, but this time Peter, Remus and Sirius had already received theirs two days ago, while James’ was no where to be seen.
The same situation has happened last year, when he had received his quidditch captain’s badge, but there was no need for him to get a new one, since he had never turned the previous one in. Despite it being pretty impossible, considering how much his grades and attitude had improved last year, he was starting to think that maybe he had been expelled. Why? Well Dumbledore was well known for making weird decisions.
The Potters along with Sirius were sitting in their kitchen having breakfast when an old looking owl knocked onto their window. James jumped up immediately to let it in, relief washing over him as he had realised that no, he was not expelled. After setting up a bowl with water and some own food in the next one for the tired animal, he made his way back to the table ripping the top of the envelope apart.
The letter was definitely much heavier than their usual ones. He was certain then, that the letter included a new captain badge for him. Perhaps, the school thought he had lost his own and that was why he hadn’t given it back?
Ignoring the letters, since they always said the same things with only slight alterations, he fished out the badge from inside of it. It was much smaller and had a completely different design. But before paying attention to the object in his hand, he looked up at his friend as he said:
‘McGee had sent me a new cap badge, silly her.’ It was only then that he had focused on the red symbol in his hand. He was expecting to see the familiar words and a logo of a lion, but instead his blood had gone cold.
This... was not his letter. That must have been a mistake... With his right hand he switched the envelope upside down so that the letters fell out. He checked the name, but it was... He checked the envelope itself and once again he could read the green font stating his name and address.
‘What. The. Bloody. Hell?’ He looked up once again and notice that he was being watched. Evidently, his reaction was unusual.
‘James Potter you will not be using such language in this house.’ His mother jumped in to reprimand him. But James didn’t hear her, instead he offered the letter to Sirius to read. ‘I’m... the head boy.’ And before he could say anything else his mother had grabbed the letter from his hand to read it herself.
