Sunlight shone in through the narrow windows of Dumbledore's office, bouncing and refracting, almost curving as they made their way through various crystalline instruments. Books and instruments hung around in abundance, occasionally shaking every time a certain amount of dust landed on them. Fawkes the phoenix slept calmly on his perch, stood fully erect. The office radiated a curious mix of activity and stillness, as if waiting for its owner to return.
Over the peak of the spiral staircase, two heads of ginger hair appeared, bouncing from side to side in jovial conversation. Mere seconds later, the rest of them was visible; it was Fred and George Weasley, twin pranksters and both old hands at being sent to this particular office.
"He likes to keep his office the same doesn't he, George?"
"I know; it's been so long since we were last here and it hasn't changed a bit."
"Yeah. We've been on our best behaviour, for what, like three weeks?"
"Well… I mean we haven't been caught for three weeks."
"Still you reckon he could've done the place up to celebrate"
"Maybe he didn't have time to; Filch just grabbed us and dragged us here by the ears. Didn't even tell us why."
"So what do you reckon got us caught?"
"I don't know; we've got quite a bit of stuff going on."
"Some of the nose bleed nougats had a side effect that makes you bleed out of your ears. Do you reckon someone reported that?"
"Nah; more likely it's the incapability ink squirting out the back of school quills; they probably enchant them against that sort of thing."
"We did explode a few toilets; they can't not notice that."
"Ooh yeah. We seriously need to fix that. Volatile Veggies are not ready for public consumption yet."
A strange kind of silence came over them as they came to a sudden realisation; Dumbledore wasn't here. But all his fabulous stuff was. Oh the fun they could have!
"Fred, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Yeah; what do you want to pinch first?"
"I don't even know what most of this stuff does; could be dangerous"
"Yeah; let's save the dangerous stuff for when we're older and wiser"
"Wiser?"
"Okay. When we know what to do with it."
They looked round with greed and mischief in their eyes. They had to be careful; Dumbledore had proven to be a difficult opponent, especially last year when he prematurely aged them with the goblet of fire. In fact, they could feel a shaky magical aura around some items; almost warning them away. Best left alone, they decided. The key, they discovered was to go for the items that looked less valuable.
Very soon it transpired that there was only one item in the office that they could identify any potential for. And as it happened, it did look almost worthless. A shabby, patched up hat, resting atop a bookshelf. The Sorting Hat.
It looked like it was watching them.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, George"
"I most certainly am. Minimus!"
An invisible force struck the sorting hat, knocking it off the bookshelf. The hat fell like a parachute, shrinking as it did so. Fred caught it confidently in his fist with a beater's precision. His hand opened to reveal their bounty; the twins grinned at it with glee. What they could do with it they had no idea but this hat had sat on the head of every Hogwarts student and read their mind. It would know their strengths, their fears, their secrets, and most importantly, how best to prank them.
A sudden pop came from the balcony adjoining the office. Someone had apparated. Hermione would have pointed out quite how impossible that was, but the twins had other things on their minds; namely petty theft. Fred passed the miniature hat to George, who pocketed it swiftly in a well practised manoeuvre perfected to hide their tricks from their mother.
From the balcony, dressed lavishly in purple robes that seemed to reflect rainbows when the sun caught them, came Albus Dumbledore; beard first, naturally. He was greeted by Fawkes flapping gracefully from behind the twins and onto his shoulder, perching with his head close to Dumbledore's ear. Dumbledore laughed at this and produced a sugar mouse from his left sleeve, which he threw up in the air for the bird to catch. It was only then that he turned his attention to Fred and George.
"Ah yes; masters Weasley and Weasley. I trust you haven't been misbehaving again?"
In unison the twins replied: "Us sir? No sir."
"I'm glad to hear it. I assume this means I don't need to open this letter from Professor Flitwick detailing some recent antics you've been up to?"
He gestured and from nowhere a letter appeared in his hand, sealed. The twins looked nervously at each other and exchanged a mutual 'gulp'.
"Are you sure it's about us sir? I mean Ron's getting into much more trouble than we are these days."
"Yeah we know everything he's up to. Read his diary once."
"Twice"
"Thrice. We have copies actually."
"It's hilarious"
Dumbledore smiled; though he'd never admit it, Fred and George were among his favourite students. They had a good natured mixture of creativity and destructive spirit which reminded Dumbledore of himself at their age. The only difference was that he was too smart to get caught.
And sometimes he needed a good laugh. Especially in dark times like these.
"Gentlemen, I'll level with you. I don't really need to open this letter, because I've heard about its content from professor Hagrid. I gather you've been enchanting all of professor Flitwick's furniture to grow slightly taller every time he tries to sit down."
"Oh. I forgot we had that going as well." Whispered Fred
"Classic stuff." Whispered George.
Dumbledore continued: "The result, I'm told, was poor Filius scaling the side of a rapidly growing chair until he fell and was left dangling by his coat-tails, upside down, eight feet above the ground."
The twins desperately tried to suppress a laugh. They were barely successful.
"At least, that's what I'm told, and some of the details may not have been accurate, seeing as professor Hagrid was trying to get his words out through a deafening giggle fit. I'm afraid this does rather require some level of discipline on my part. You are to clean from head to toe all the boys' bathrooms in the school, without, and I can't stress this enough, without the use of magic."
Together: "But sir!"
"Now, gentlemen, if you expected leniency, you should have picked your target better. Perhaps a professor who is less well versed in charms next time. One who maybe could stand to develop a sense of humour after sulking in his dungeon all day."
He covered his mouth in mock horror. "Naturally, you heard none of this from me"
"Of course not, sir"
"Wouldn't dream of it, sir"
"Good, good. Now I trust you've learned your lesson. Be off with you. Go well, and gents." He looked directly at them over his half moon spectacles and unleashed a knowing smile. "Make sure to return that hat in pristine condition when you're done with it."
The boys shared an uneasy smile before walking down the stairs backwards, not wanting to let Dumbledore out of their sight until they were confident he couldn't hear them.
Dumbledore let out a soft chuckle and tossed another sugar mouse to Fawkes.
"I wonder what they'll get up to."