And We All Fall DOWN

It had taken Peeves a few days, but he had done it. He had managed to move a whole row of suits of armor so they led the way down a staircase, one on each step. He had set up some distractions to keep professors from noticing, and all of the students who had noticed really did not notice- they were all too caught up in their own meaningless lives to notice.

But he had not done it to make people wonder about what the suits of armor were up to. No, he did it for this grand finale.

Peeves waited, anticipating growing. Finally, there was the bell. Children began streaming out of classrooms, working their ways up and down the stairs. Now they noticed the suits of armor, glancing at them as they began on the crowded path on the staircase. What they did not notice, was Peeves, invisible, sneaking over to the top step.

With a smile, Peeves placed his hands on the back of the topmost suit of armor and pushed it forward. It lurched forward and fell against the next one- setting off a chain reaction, a domino effect.

Children began leaping out of the way, running to and fro. Peeves threw his head back and laughed, reveling in the chaos. He began to sing:

“One two three four
Knights all on the floor!
Five six seven eight
Can’t believe the kiddies took the bait!”

He cackled louder, turning over and over in the air, his legs folded beneath him, his face alight with mischief.

Marcus heard the bell ring. "Yes! A free period!" he cheered silently. He rushed out of the room after the kids had gone on their usual running around. What confused him was that they stopped dead in their tracks after a few minutes. Then out of nowhere, a dozen suit of armors came crashing down the staircase.

"Move out of the way!" Marcus screamed and the kids started to dash out of the way. One of the suits came crashing towards Marcus. He whipped out his wand and deflected it easily. Then he heard a wicked song coming from the top. He knew exactly who it was.

"Peeves!"

Peeves heard the squealing of some irritable professor who really had no business messing with this innocent play between himself and the children of Hogwarts. He hated that and he hated that this always seemed to be the trend here at this school. Before he could have any real fun, he had some uppity teacher on his arse, blabbing about safety and propriety.

You know what Peeves thought about safety. BOLLOCKS.

Instead, he turned and faced the young teacher, saluting him. "Peeves reporting for duty, sir!"

Marcus scowled at Peeves. "Stop playing games. What the heck are you doing toppling suits of armors down the stairs?! That could've crushed someone!" Marcus was so pissed right now, especially at Peeves acting as if this didn't happen. "You'd be lucky if I didn't tell the headmaster. Give me a reason that I shouldn't." Marcus knew there was none that Peeves could come up with except some ridiculous story or whatever.

Marcus looked around at all of the destruction. And then at the students that surrounded them. "Get to class!"

Peeves cleared his throat. "Meant no harm by it, sir, I swear! I was only teaching the wee kiddos about the laws of physics and gravity. Really!" His voice had taken on a tone of mock reverence- this CHILD had been teaching for how long? Multiply his age alone by a hundred and he was still not as old as Peeves. Peeves was older than this kid's whole family put together.

He threatened to call the Headmaster and Peeves laughed. "Because what good would it do? Can't be banished, shan't be banished, sir!" He had been at Hogwarts for hundreds of years. He was not going to be leaving now.

"Professor, please return to your class," a sullen-looking James Wake asked the Defense against the Dark Arts professor as he threatened to continue this conversation. "I'm sure your mind would find more... worthy pursuits in there. I'll deal with pest." His attitude still seemed calm and cool, his eyes watching the poltergeist with unwavering caution. He had learned from previous dealings that Peeves was like an incorrigable puppy- he just required some play time before returning to his pen.

Unfortunately, such fun generally lead to pain, misery, and distress on the part of his playmates. All he needed was a bit of attention before he settled down, and looking upon his schedule, James was (unfortunately) available. His prefect badge shone brightly as he extracted his wands from the folds of his robe. [color=blue]"Peeves, that's enough. Let's talk about this elsewhere. I'm sure you'd rather keep this to areas where you can... mess around freely, right?"

Another voice pervaded Peeves' ears, ringing in them the way only the voices of those were irritaringly responsible could do. He spun midair, and his eyes found the figure that belonged to James Wake, one of those uppity prefects who thought they actually had some degree of power. Funny, because of the three of them, Peeves had the most authority.

"Did you hear that, Professor?!" Peeves said. "nsubordination! INSUBORDINATION! He should be expelled and beheaded for his back talk." James tried to order Peeves away and Peeves crossed his arms, shaking his head. "Shan't go until you learn your place!"