It was the first Hogsmeade trip of the year. Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting around a small table in the Three Broomsticks, drinking butterbeer and playing wizard chess. Dobby, who had been given the day off from his house-elf duties, was sitting next to Harry. He was whispering advice in Harry's ear. He was usually wrong, but he got very offended if Harry did not follow his advice.
"Oh, Harry Potter, sir, you should move there, sir," he whispered. Harry moved to the spot Dobby had indicated, and a few minutes later, Ron had him in check, and then checkmate.
Ron got up, taking a final sip of butterbeer.
"Well, if everyone's finished their butterbeer, then I have something to show you. There's a new store in Hogsmeade that just opened a few months ago. I hear it's supposed to be really great. Want to go see?"
Harry, Hermione, and Dobby all nodded, and followed Ron out of the Three Broomsticks.
"What's this store called, Ron?" Harry asked.
"Oh, you'll find out," said Ron vaguely.
"Well, I hope it won't take too long. I have to finish my Divination homework," Hermione said.
Harry and Ron glanced at each other suspiciously.
"Um, Hermione, you don't take Divination anymore."
"Oh, yes, I just......" she said, blushing furiously.
"Hermione, you can't fool us. You just want to send an owl to Krum," Ron said, sniggering.
Hermione blushed even harder. The four friends walked down the streets of Hogsmeade, passing Zonko's, Honeydukes, and the Shrieking Shack before reaching a small brick building that Harry had never seen before. Suddenly Dobby yelled.
"Wheezy's! It's a Whezzy's shop, Harry Potter, sir!"
Harry was the only one who understood this at first, but then Hermione saw the sign above the door of the building, which read "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," and she realized what Dobby meant. Ron grinned as the stepped through the door.
The building was full of tall wooden shelves. The shelves were stocked with an array of strange looking items that none of the four of them had seen in Hogsmeade before. There were labels on the shelves that said things like "Ton-Tongue Toffees" and "Canary Creams" and "Exploding Quills." Behind the counter in the back of the shop stood none other than Fred and George Weasley.
"Hey Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dobby! Like our joke shop? Mum isn't too happy with it, but we make a decent amount of money, so she puts up with it. Here, Harry, try some mints," said George, holding out a handful of bright blue candies, which looked like peppermints.
Harry popped a mint in his mouth. As he sucked on it, his hair turned bright blue. The mint changed colors every few minutes, and his hair changed colors with it.
For the next several hours, they walked through the shop, trying samples of Canary Creams, dueling with fake wands, and eating the many enchanted foods that Fred and George had invented, including bubble gum that made big purple bubbles pour out of your mouth.
They all walked back to Hogwarts together at sunset, the pockets of their robes stuffed with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products. They all had different thoughts in their heads. Hermione was mentally composing a letter to Viktor Krum, Ron was imagining Snape eating a Ton-Tongue Toffee, Dobby was thinking about his newest pair of socks, and Harry was deep in thought about the future. Fred and George had just left Hogwarts several months ago, and they already had a whole career set up. Harry wasn't sure if he would be so lucky. Of course, he wanted to play Quidditch, but then one of his fourth year teachers had told him that he would make a good Auror. After what had happened at the end of that year, he wasn't sure if he could trust this teacher, but it was still something to consider. Harry was also aware that Lord Voldemort would likely affect his future as well. He shrugged as they entered the Gryffindor common room. He would deal with that when it came, but meanwhile he still had a couple more years to get through at Hogwarts.