#2 Dinner

Jacob bit his tongue when chewing too fast, as a loud noise went off and students started screaming. He instinctively grabbed his cutlery, then realised what was going on. Gulping his bite of chicken with enough determination to almost make him choke again, he stood from his seat to get a better view of the pink insanity happening over at the Slytherin table.

There was glitter and chaos everywhere. Thomas spilling pumpkin juice on himself was merely a bonus. Jacob doubled over in laughter, once again barely able to breathe but for a much better reason. 'Their...faces...' he stammered between laughs, his eyes tearing up in delight.

It was a good moment before he could recover enough to see even Seabrook had fallen victim to the glorious prank, though a part of Jacob was rather offended he couldn't claim credit for its genius. He'd very much like to shake the hand of whoever was involved.

That Williams girl came over to scold them but Jacob just laughed again. 'You've never looked better,' he joked to her.' Jacob was amazed he could keep himself under control enough to speak or remain aware of what was going on. It soon dawned on him though that apparently he and Thomas were the prime suspects. Oh, if only...

'I've never been so upset to be falsely accused in my life,' Jacob muttered to Thomas and Eleanor. He said it as if it was a common mistake people made to assume they were anything less than innocent a majority of the time. He nodded at Eleanor's words about giving the real prankster a medal. It would be a long time indeed before Jacob forgot the sound of Seabrook's scream when the glitter exploded at the Slytherin table. In fact, he almost wished there was a Boggart around so he could show off how powerful that happy memory was.

The laughter that hurt his ribs faded as one of the younger Slytherins reacted rather angrily. She even lunged at Thomas but Lailee was faster. Jacob was about to climb over the table in reaction, though sank back into his seat fast when Professors came over to deal with the situation. He grinned at them in what he hoped looked innocent, though even he knew that any smile from him was regarded as an admission of guilt by now. Still, he felt a sense of duty to take the blame to hide the identity of the real prankster. A prank that incredible deserved some loyalty from Hogwarts' best pranksters, after all.

Slytherin losing house points was the icing on the cake. Almost literally, as dessert appeared and Jacob was able to stuff cupcakes into his pockets before deciding to flee the Great Hall in case Professors decided to punish him. It would really suck to be punished for something he actually, for once, didn't do.

'Common room,' he said to Thomas and Eleanor, dashing by them once he was sure Thomas no longer needed the back-up. He earned some cheers and applause along the way - Jacob beamed at the attention and graciously bowed to them as he went.