It is the beginning of the trio's sixth year at Hogwarts and there seems to be a rather... dull atmosphere at the school. And what is better at cheering up everyone than a nice prank? At least that is what everyone thought at first, just not Draco Malfoy.
Author's Note--- Harry Potter and his world are not mine... they are just the creations of JK Rowling's wonderfully creative mind. Only the plot and any new items in this story are mine.
Pranks and Quiddich just don't get AlongPart one: Of Hogsmeade Trips and Planning
It was getting towards the end of the month of September, and autumn was in the air. All across Britain, young children and grown folk alike could be seen enjoying the nice crisp outdoors. That is, everyone except the students at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And especially not the fifteen to twenty young people in one cold damp dungeon.
Harry Potter sighed. Loudly. Maybe he had sighed a bit too loudly, because that sigh had just awarded him with a piercing glare from Hermione.
Why had he chosen to continue this class? It was not as if he actually enjoyed having Snape breathing down his back at any given moment of the class. Or having him criticize his potions while sometimes the potions of the Slytherins were more potent than his.
He turned back to his work.
Time really seems to slow down in this class, especially if your name was Harry Potter. Who he was.
Professor Snape had already made several well-chosen snide comments and criticisms about Harry's supposed terrible potion making abilities.
"They could not be that bad." Harry could be heard muttering soon after that encounter. "I was, after all one of only seven students to receive an O in the OWLs, last year."
Harry gave a small snort of laughter. Not only had Snape been forced to allow him to continue the class, he had also been forced to accept into his class, those who had scored an E. As no one who received an O was in Slytherin, he had been in a bad temper for most of the year so far. Of course Draco Malfoy was one of the many students who had scored just below an O, along with Ron, and about fifteen or so other students.
"Hey, Harry!" Ron practically whispered to him. "What are you grinning about?"
"Nothing in particular." Harry replied as causally as he could muster. "Just thinking about how Snape had to lower his standards for this class."
"Well I am almost glad that he did. Almost. Now I can become an auror," here he paused. "Mind you, it is not as if I enjoy this beastly class. But with his lowering his requirement down, it also means that some of the less desirables, such as ferret over there," here Ron nodded over at Draco Malfoy who was sitting alone on the opposite side of the dungeon, his cronies missing from the class. "That also allowed for him to get in into this class."
At Hermione's withering glare, Ron and Harry fell silent, and both their attentions went back to their simmering potions once more.
It was going to be a very long afternoon if things continued at this rate.
Fifty-five minutes, and twenty-five points later, Ron, Harry and Hermione could be found in the Griffindor common room, as classes were done for the day.
As Ron and Harry were lounging in two chairs they became aware of a group of twittering third and forth years over by the Griffindor bulletin. As Ron and Harry were heading over to investigate, Katie Bell pulled them over to one side.
"Well, as you should know, I was made Quiddich Captain, so of course, both of you are still on the team now after that awful Umbridge took you off it last year Harry. Ron you are still keeper, and Harry, I talked to Ginny and she will happily resign as seeker, as she will become the second chaser. So spread it around that we will need another chaser along with two beaters, as our current ones have decided to drop off the team. Try-outs will be next Saturday at four o'clock. We really need you to be there, ok? The first game is the third Sunday of October, against the Slytherins."
It was after Katie had spoken to them and right before they learned about the first Hogsmeade trip of the year, that Ron first came up with the idea. The amazingly unique Idea, which would, eventually affect the entire school.
Hey, Harry! Lets pull a prank on Malfoy! No, how about we pull the prank on the entire Slytherin team!
"That is a great idea mate! Should we use some of your brothers' joke products for it? Maybe we could see them at their shop in Hogsmeade on Saturday."
Fred and George's joke shop had been a huge success and as it had flourished so much over the summer, they had decided to open an additional shop in Hogsmeade. With the twins involved in the prank, along with the fact that they had a store located so close by, many interesting and unusual things were bound to happen.
The few days left until the first Hogsmeade trip of the year seemed to literally drag by at a very snail like pace for almost all the students in third year and above. The week especially seemed to take up many millenniums of hours for a few certain students, Ron and Harry being two amongst them.
The school had also seemed to become much more cheery as groups of students could be seen gathering in the halls or out on the ground during their free time, planning the many adventures that they would have during their first visit of the year to the only all magical village in Great Britain.
Along with the new spirit came another one. This one was not new, for it had frequently been there during the days of the Weasley twins, whose legacy was still one of the most talked about in the school, especially by those who wanted to follow in their footsteps. For yes, students were starting to think about little pranks or pieces of mischief that they could cause around the castle during their free time. But these were small, as the students would not have had any opportunity to stock up on any of the bigger pranks, which could now be found in Hogsmeade, at Weasley' Wizarding Wheezes.
Little did everyone know, but what would come next would be far more complex then just a few small pranks. A full out war was about to begin amongst the four houses of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Saturday had finally arrived and you could find both Ron and Harry in the two-story building that was Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.
"What is this thing full of George? Is it one of your newest products?"
Ron was holding up a gadget in his hands, turning it around and around, trying to figure out what its uses were. It was a globe shaped glass bottle about the size of two fists clasped together, with a lid about the size of a bronze knut.
But what had startled Ron the most, were the contents of the jar. The contents looked almost like it was the consistency of molten silver, but surprisingly, it was not the color you would expect it to be either. There were many different colors inside the liquid dust… for that is what it seemingly was.
"That, Ron, is ONE of our newest products. Limited supply that one has."
"Yep, little bro. You put it on, oh lets say a broom and then, for the next hour or two, it speaks insults about the person riding on it."
"Nothing too serious, Hermione," put in Fred quickly. "It just insults the person's appearance, or habits. Now this over here," he pointed to a bag of what looked to be jelly beans, "You just have to slip one to the person of your choice, and all they start spilling all their thoughts and wildest dreams. The effect only lasts around fifteen minutes, and, for safety reasons, nothing too dangerous can be spilled. So it can not be used against us, or the order."
This last part was to Hermione, who was looking rather dangerous at the moment.
Ron, and Hermione went back to browsing, with Ron searching for the perfect prank.
Meanwhile, Harry, who had already found what he wanted, was having a difficult time actually paying for his purchase.
"Fred, are you sure about that? I mean, I can pay for it… it is not as if I could not."
"Harry, I hope I do not need to explain it again. We are happy to provide you with this," here Fred gestured to the mysterious package on the counter, "our newest product."
"After all," George put in, "None of this could ever have been possible without you."
"We hope your prank turns out well Harry."
"Defiantly."
"Oh, and try to get a picture of Malfoy too," mused George, "Maybe we could use the picture of him for the advertising of this product."
Harry finally agreed to their offer, with much reluctance on his part. The prank that they were planning on pulling was bound to be spectacular, if Fred and George's overly creative minds had any say in the matter, which they did. Little did anyone know, on this warm autumn day, what would happen because of this one, completely harmless prank.