The Water Demons

The Weasley twins are very clever practical jokers, masters of mischief and mayhem, staunch adversaries of authority, pretension, and known to be disrespectful to teachers in general. Is it any wonder that they took on Umbridge?

So what happens when a fellow student turns to Fred and George, asking for help in getting even with Umbridge? How far will they go in pestering and teasing her, flaunting their wicked sense of humor and inventiveness, and blatant shenanigans? And why would she be gullible enough to go along?

~1~

Curious As A Cat

Dylan sat in a chair by the window of the library, rather than at the tables with everyone else, and stared out at the lush landscape. To everyone who passed her, it appeared as though she was just enjoying the view or deep in thought. To the twin boys in the same section, she was apparently simply daydreaming, not paying them any heed at all. They pulled one huge volume after another from the shelves, discarding one book after another; and although she was paying them slight heed, she didn't give any indication when either one of them glanced in her direction.

Actually, she was distracted from reading the book in her lap by the anger she felt about having received another week of detentions with Professor Umbridge. Professor – Ha! That toad is in no way a qualified professor.

She wiped a tear from her cheek, hoping that no one saw her. I'm tired of people telling me that I'm just daft. So what if I believe what Professor Dumbledore said at the Leaving Feast? The Great Hall had been draped in black in remembrance of Cedric Diggory. Dumbledore said Cedric was murdered by Lord V – vol – ah,Him, and that the Ministry of Magic didn't want him to tell us that. They're afraid of the truth. And Vol – vo… He is scary. That's why the Ministry doesn't want to believe Harry Potter. No one wants Vo – vol-de – augh! Him to come back; but to blatantly deny it is utterly crazy.

Another tear fell and quickly she swiped it away. Slyly, she glanced at the twins, thankful that they didn't seem to notice. She was used to them teasing her and didn't want them to today. Even though Madam Pomfrey had given her Murtlap compresses for the cuts each night after her detentions, her hand hurt – a lot, and it still bled when she closed her hand or gripped anything. Underneath the bandage, the back of her hand read, "I will not spread lies," in bright red. A blood oath quill! She makes us write lines with a blood oath quill! She's evil, that toad.

Dylan had just changed her dressing and applied another Murtlap compress, but it didn't help the pain when she had to write, or lift something, or even grip her wand. Dylan had begun to practice using her left hand for most things – even wand work. But she didn't have the same control she did left-handed as she did right-handed.

Just because the Ministry's blind to the truth, too afraid of Him that they don't want to admit that He could possibly be back – doesn't mean that everyone else is so dense – so naïve, she fumed. My parents believed Headmaster Dumbledore. My parents think if anyone would know, it would be Dumbledore. My father's best friend, Mr. Avens, believed it, and his daughter, Virginia, in Slytherin believes it. So why doesn't the Ministry?

Dylan rose from her seat, grabbing her book bag with her right hand. She gasped in shock and winced at the shooting pain, immediately dropping her bag on the floor and pressing her left hand to the cuts. Please don't start bleeding, please…

"You dropped this," said a soft voice next to her. She looked up and met the taunting gaze of one of the Weasley twins. His eyes dropped to her hands and his expression turned to one of concern. "Hey, are you okay? Did you hurt your hand?"

"Ah, yeah…" She searched his face, wishing they were required to wear nametags or something. Well, the school does require us to wear badges, but they keep switching theirs. She was certain they did. This is so embarrassing. Every time I talk to one of them I call him by the wrong name… and I always guess wrong. Oh, how I wish I could tell them apart. "No, I'm fine – Fred?"

He shook his head and smiled. "George. Are you sure?"

Zero for a thousand… she chided herself."George, I'm sorry. No, it's nothing really… I'm fine. Thanks." You would think I'd get it right at least once, if not just by mistake!

He lifted her bag up, and Dylan took it with her left hand, her arm sliding through the strap as she swung it up onto her shoulder. "Hey, it's no problem. See you in class," he replied, smiling as he walked off.

She watched him as he went over to his brother, Fred, and their best friend, what is his name – Jordan? Yeah, that's it, Lee Jordan. George showed Fred the book he'd retrieved from the shelf, near where she had been sitting. They were comparing whatever spell he had looked up in the book with whatever Fred and Lee had in the books they held. The way those three are acting, they are up to something, she surmised. I'd love to know what.

George tucked his book into his book bag and then crammed in the one Lee held out to him as Fred put three in his bag. Dylan turned to see if Madam Pince noticed that they were borrowing books without properly checking them out. Nope, she's not at her desk. She turned back just in time to see them leave the library together.

She knew, just knew, that they were behind many of the pranks and strange occurrences that happened around school. She also knew that no one had really been able to prove half the stuff the Weasley twins pulled. Dylan envied them. No, I admire them. They joke and mess around a lot, but they get good grades and have no trouble with the spells we do in class. If they'd just apply themselves – but of course they did – do… just not academically. Some of the stuff I know that they've pulled over the years has been – amazing, truly amazing… I wonder what they are planning up now.

~o0o~

Dylan followed Fred and George as they walked from the Great Hall after lunch and headed down to the greenhouses. She had Care of Magical Creatures now, so for a while they headed in the same direction. She wished that she had the class with the twins as she watched them laugh and joke with the other students heading for the greenhouses. For the umpteenth time she wished she had the nerve to talk to them. They will just tease me again and… I never know what to say to them anyway. If I could just be like Virginia. She can talk to anyone, and Fred and George always seem to throw me off balance.

Coming back up the hill from class, Dylan saw Fred and George lagging behind their classmates. One of them dropped to re-tie his shoelaces while the other waited. Dylan waited too, ducking behind a large boulder, not wanting to pass them alone.

Dylan adjusted the bandage on her hand Professor Hagrid had been so kind to do for her, but the back of her hand still stung – a lot. Her Care of Magical Creatures class today had been held in the Forbidden Forest, and a Thestral had nearly bitten her hand off at the end of class because her cuts had begun to bleed again. At least that's what Professor Hagrid said it was. I never saw the animal, she thought, a shiver running down her spine. Professor Hagrid had been so kind, absolutely insisting on bandaging her hand for her, but that made her the last one to leave, so now she was walking back to the castle alone. Those two are the biggest jokers in the school. If they tease me about my hand, I'll cry. I can't let them see me cry… I'll never hear the end of it.

She peeked around the boulder to see if they had moved on. Suddenly the twin retying his shoe had finished, and they were now running – this way! If I duck back between those trees I might not get caught… She quickly tried to stow the large glass jar of stagnate pond water Professor Hagrid allowed her to collect in her bag, to get ready to run.

"So what do we have here?" one of them asked, stepping around her hiding place. He wore a green jumper with a large 'G' on it, but she knew very well that did not mean he was George.

"It's a Ravenclaw, Fred," the other answered as he appeared too. Okay, maybe he is George. She couldn't see the letter on his jumper yet. "So pretty little raven, what are you doing here?"

"I was coming from class, George…" she started to explain, except that he shook his head indicating that she got his name wrong. "Sorry, Fred, I mean, in class… but I," she stammered when he pointed at the other when she called him Fred. "I… was just – now…" Not sure what to say, her brain went blank, and her mouth just wouldn't cooperate.

"Yes?" they said together. They now stood on either side of her behind her rock. One of them moved to stand in front of her.

"What do you have there?" Fred – George? She lost track. Whichever one he was, he pointed to the canvas bag she held.

She looked at his chest and saw the large 'F' there. "Well, Fred, right? I, um, have a pet that needs…" How was she going to explain having ten baby grindylows and over a dozen grindylow eggs in her dorm room? What had Professor Lupin call them? Oh, yes, tadlows… tadlowogs, that's right. There are still a few more eggs about to hatch too… any day now – which is why I needed the mucky water.

"Uh-uh, I'm George, not Fred." His smirk gave her jitters, and he smiled knowingly at his brother. "What I really want to know is why were you hiding from us just now?" He moved to stand next to his brother. He pulled a twig from her hair as the other one moved to peek around the rock. "What's in there? And where did you get it?" he asked, trading places with the other to give him room. She turned her head in the direction of the forest, and when she looked back they were standing in front of her again.

They are too much alike! If only they could just stand still… All she could do was point, her cheeks felt like they were burning. "Raven got your tongue?" the other one asked – Fred. She had to look at his chest. Yes, he had on the 'G' jumper. "What's the matter? We could give you some chocolate for giving us an answer with an actual word in it," he teased.

They're definitely in the mood to tease… Why today? Dylan swallowed hard. "In the forest, Fred… I was in there…"

"Fred," the one with the 'F' interrupted her, indicating himself. "We figured that part out for ourselves, thank you. What I want to know is what were you doing in there and what you were after, and why?

Dylan felt like she was their target again. It's like being paired up in class with one of them. They like causing mayhem, always switching on me, or calling each other names like Gred and Forge,soshe never knew which one she was talking to. I'll be okay. Who am I kidding… they're identical – there is no way I can tell them apart…

"Let her answer," the other said teasingly.

Quick check… yep, George, he has the 'G' on his jumper. "George, I am – well… I asked Professor Hagrid if I could…"

"Fred. It's okay… go on," he coaxed. "You asked Hagrid if you could what?"

"The jar you shoved into your bag, what's in it?" the other asked.

So he had seen it. Is that why they came over here? Dylan reached into her bag and pulled out a large litre container of mucky water. "Do you mean this?"

"Yes," they said simultaneously.

"It's pond scum; hopefully full of algae n' stuff." I can't tell why I have it… I am not telling them I am raising tadlowogs… though, maybe…think Dylan, some reason to have… yes! Dylan quickly explained that she had a microscope and wanted to see if it had microorganisms. Her dad told her all about microorganisms. I actually managed to talk to them and not get all flustered! She was surprised.

The twin with the 'F' leaned forward placing his hand on the rock by her head to peer into the container. "Cool, but where did you get it?"

Was he really interested in microorganisms too? Do wizards study them like Muggles do? He seems interested. The other one, guessing it was Fred, he wore the 'G,' doesn't. He was standing with his arms crossed. Dylan tried to explain where Professor Hagrid had taken them for their class, but part way through her voice cracked, she stuttered every time she looked at – Fred? Both guys listened intently, one nodded, the other grinned.

"Thanks," they said.

She watched them leave, running into the forest presumably to find the pond where she had collected her tadlowog water. She'd managed a whole conversation with the twins, and still never managed to call them by their right name. Do they do that on purpose? Or am I just so flustered around them I can't keep it straight? There has to be a way to tell them apart. Our professors can.

~o0o~

A few days later, Fred and George were huddled over a pile of books; every now and again checking over their shoulders to make sure the section was without prying ears. Dylan squeezed tighter into her corner, not wanting to be seen or sensed by the trickster duo today. She was crying, and if they saw her… well, she just didn't want to be teased right now.

"Cypress – I think… brackish would be great…"

"Maybe, a sink-hole spell…"

"We don't want it to go through the floor!"

"Nah, just need to turn the rock into a natural aquifer…"

"What's an aquifer?"

"Dunno."

"All we need is really mucky water, and mire – if we flood it really good that's all that's necessary, right?"

Dylan wiped her face again, and tilted her head, listening to the mischief-makers talk. Now what on earth could they be up to? Why would they want – they are going to flood a corridor?

"Limestone, peat, moss, steam, fog, fungi, plants – we could use seeds maybe? Or do you think sticks, leaves and stuff like that would work?"

"Fred, what are herbaceous plant species?" Okay that had to be George then.

"Dunno. Says grasses, rushes and sedges in this one… Hey we could add orchids; at least McGonagall would like that. This one lists four types of orchids."

Dylan listened as, Fred? It could be Fred – seemed to read off an ingredient list to a potion, until he said, "Oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, bicarbonate, phosphorous, and sulphur, I think I still have sulphur. Nitrate and phosphorus, I'm not sure about those." What on earth would they need chemical elements and gasses for?

"Bacteria, yeast… and fungi and protozoa... that's in the mud and water… hmm…" Well, that explained the interest in her jar of pond scum.

"Fungi, do you mean mushrooms? Well, we have been collecting stuff like that from the forest for years."

"Good thing, huh? I think it's more than just mushrooms, though." She heard the distinct thud of heavy volumes being closed. They were closing up the books! "I think it's all that stuff on the trees and rocks…We should get more of that stuff anyway." She heard one of them reply, and Dylan pulled her legs up tighter and propped her book higher up on her knees to hide her face. A single quill, charmed to take dictation hovered over her parchment tablet, anticipating. Dylan noticed that the quill had written down every word she heard them say. She quickly changed the page.

"So now we just need to… Oh! Hi," one of them said. Dylan had no idea which one, but at least he was smiling.

"Hi," she managed, though her voice cracked. She buried her head back into her book, her face hot enough to fry eggs. They laughed softly and moved on. Dylan turned around to the pile of books they had left and swished her wand to summon them to her. Glancing at the titles she noticed that they were ecology books. They must have an essay for Herbology. The larger of the books opened easily to a page with a corner folded down. She absently read the text as she straightened the corner.

'…Are tropical moist forests where waterlogged soils prevent dead leaves and wood from decomposing, which over time creates a thick layer of acidic peat. Peat swamp forests are typically surrounded by lowland rain forests on better-drained soils, and by brackish or salt-water mangrove forests near the coast.' Dylan noticed that peat, moss, brackish and salt-water were on the list next to her.

'Soils data indicate that swamps are historically composed of 1. Low hammocks of live oak, laurel oak, water oak, runner oak, cabbage palm and varieties of pines in the better drained areas; 2. Seasonally wet flat woods supporting slash pine, longleaf pine, cabbage palm, fetterbush, wax myrtle, saw palmetto and a variety of grasses and sedges in more poorly drained areas; and 3. Wood swamps composed of cypress…' they mentioned using cypress? The recording of their conversation, yes… they said that they could use cypress.

'Blackgum, bay, red maple, water oak, ironwood, pond pine, and maidencare as well as pickerelweed marshes in sloughs, river floodplains and other areas of seasonally pond collection or natural aquifer regions…' And they had wanted to know what an 'aquifer' was… Dylan set the book down. What are they up too?

~o0o~

That night Dylan couldn't sleep. It was well after one in the morning, and she was wide-awake and restless. She kept going over the conversation in the library. Really mucky water… flooding is all that's necessary… don't want it to go through the floor… Oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, bicarbonate, nitrate, phosphorous, and sulphur – chemical elements – they are all chemical elements. What did they need chemical elements for? Dylan's dad worked with elements as a chemist for the petroleum company… bacteria and protozoa – could that be why they were interested in her pond scum? It's not an essay. Not likely with those two. Fungi, yeast, moss, peat and brackish… water?

She stretched and considered. Professor McGonagall didn't want her practicing her changing without supervision, but did want her to practice imaging her form. My private lessons showed that I am capable of changing on my own now and… It's late – but I want to know… She will be furious! I can't sleep anyway... I'll just change, sneak into their room, and see what they are up to… It can't be that hard. Can it?

Dylan stood up, taking a deep breath, she concentrated on her centre, and as she exhaled, she held onto the strongest part of force she felt within her. She inhaled again, never letting go of the building sensation in her body – her core. Slowly she allowed herself to meld with it, feeling it fill her body, and she whispered the incantation softly as she let herself flow into it, trying to frame the image in her mind.

When she opened her eyes her perspective was lower. She quickly checked herself in her mirror and realized she had forgotten to extend her legs again. Oh well, the rest looks right. Maybe no one will notice if they see me. She closed her eyes and mentally berated herself. If anyone does see me this way – they'll freak! Oh, well, it's not like I choose this form. Quietly she slipped from the room. She followed the corridors running toward the seventh floor Gryffindor towers.

Once there, she slunk around the corner and noticed that a girl was entering the hole in the wall. Quickly Dylan ran up behind her, thankful that her padded feet made almost no noise on the stone floor, entered behind the girl into the room. She sat patiently as the girl disappeared up a staircase and Dylan ran up the other. On the second landing of the stairs her sensitive ears picked up movement, startled exclamations and one of the twins' voices. "Sorry mate… just made a small mistake."

"Galloping gargoyles, Weasley, let a guy sleep, why don't you!" the boy said and Dylan smiled. I have the right room all right. Gently she pushed against the door and peered inside. Yes, he's awake! Just past that tree in… They have a tree in their room? She silently walked in keeping herself close to the other beds and made her way toward his bed just past the tree. All right, so how to change back – unnoticed, and not scare the daylights out of him…

~o0o~

Fred, George and Lee were still up. All attempts at the swamp were not working out well. The dense fog in the boy's bathroom had finally dissipated around midnight, and the house-elves had finally cleaned up all the peat and mud, so Robinson had gone down to take his weekly bath. That will take about an hour, Fred thought, amused, and Fendler's sound asleep in his bed. George is reading up on swampland fauna, thought Fred as he sat on the side of his bed, intently looking at a small branch in his hand. The perfect time to work on our crowning achievement…

Fred tried to make the branch he held in his hand grow into a tree. If I use the spell I found in that dusty volume from the top shelf of the Transfiguration section in the library, it works. Just not exactly how I need it to work – and not every time. Well, it's easy enough one twig at a time – but that won't cut it! The down side was that the spell didn't work at all if he set the twig in the pile of woody vegetation, debris and pond scum they had collected.

The other spells worked, but seemed to counter this one. The last time the spell made a large, soggy, rotten log that fell over and had completely filled the bathroom, though, that had been loads of fun. The spell only works with a dry branch or twig, with leaves, and only one bloody twig at a time. He didn't have time to stand there growing one branch at a time into the plants he wanted! If this is to work it can't be a twelve-spell-each process… They wanted it to be a large lump of something you could either, throw and run away from, or a box of stuff that exploded into the swamp. A box which exploded into a swamp would be far more cool – and sell better, Fred thought to himself.

He levitated the branch to the centre of the room, rolled his wand as he made an arch, saying the spell he'd been trying and the leafy branch quickly expanded – shooting roots, trunk and branches full a leaves as it grew, only to crash into the ceiling with a loud splintering and cracking noise. Fendler shot up in bed looking around wildly. "W –what, who, huh? What?" he gasped.

"Sorry mate, just made a small mistake," Fred said calmly.

Fendler fell back against his pillows. "Galloping gargoyles, Weasley…! Let a guy sleep, why don't you!"

Fred tried to shrink the tree now growing in their dorm room, but the attempt made a very loud crack, a big flash of fire and a thick poof of smoke as the big tree dissipated into pile of ash on the floor.

Suddenly a cat – well, it looked like a cat, but huge, that had waked casually into the room, froze as Fred destroyed the tree. The cat-like animal screamed and suddenly darted across the room, ran past George's bed, leaped across Robinson's and turned a sharp U around Lee's legs and buried its self under Fendler's bed. Fendler, having been jarred fully awake again by the destruction of the tree, looked around frightened as the cat-like creature raced around the room. The four boys in the room moved cautiously to peer under the bed at the frightened animal.

"What in the bloody hell was that?" Fendler asked.

"A cat, I think," Fred said casually. His curiosity was fully peaked and adrenaline now raced in his veins as he tried to see the intruder.

"That can't be a cat – it's too big!" Lee exclaimed, down on all fours. "Did you see its paws?"

"It looked like a mini mountain lion, a kneazle – or something," George stated. "That isn't just any 'ole cat, Fred. Can you see it?"

The door opened and Robinson and Chan walked in. Instantly the cat shot out from under Fendler's bed, leaping over Chan's bed and lunged for the door. Robinson flung himself out of the way as the 'cat' ran out the room with Fred, Lee and George in hot pursuit.

The common room was empty and completely silent by the time the boys reached the bottom of the stairs, except for the soft crackle from the fireplace as the last of the firewood broke down into embers.

~oOo~

Dylan walked into her common room, changing back to her normal form and flung herself into the nearest chair. She was so pumped up now there was no way she could just go to bed! There was a tree in the middle of his room! A tree! He made a tree erupt – explode in spontaneous combustion! Dylan had been terrified the moment that tree burst into flame… In their dorm room no less! Who in the name of Merlin would… destroy a tree in their dorm room? Did all Gryffindors have a tree in their dorm rooms? She forced herself to take deep even breaths, carefully counting to ten before she exhaled. Her hands were shaking… Had he made a tree… then destroyed it? Bugger, he must be a capable wizard if he can do that! She stared into the fire, watching the flames flicker. That, sure as Hades, didn't go well. Now what?

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Author's note:

We all know that Fred and George had D.A.D.A. and Herbology – that seems to be canon. I am assuming that Fred and George received O.W.L.s in Potions, Charms, Transfiguration – based on the stuff in their shop. For the purpose of the story – rather than have them only taking three class subjects in the school year. That's just too much free time for them to have on their hands. I doubt Professor McGonagall would allow them that!

Dylan's Animagus form – when she gets it right, is an Eurasian Lynx: one of the big cats, classified as a medium-size cat of European and Siberian forests. It has grey to reddish fur with a variable pattern of black spots or may have plain fur. Dylan's is the plain variety. The lynx is mainly nocturnal and rather quiet animal. The sounds the lynx makes are seldom heard because they are not loud. A female weighs approximately 18kg. The Eurasian lynx has relatively long legs, large feet that provide a 'snowshoe' effect, allowing the animal to run well through snow. In winter the coat is greyish, with a tint varying from rusty to yellowish. The Wikipedia web site has a very nice article and picture if curious.