Author's Note: So, I got detention over at the Hogwarts House Challenges forum. Shocking, right? My punishment is to write a short fic about what I did to earn the detention.
Lee Jordan ducked behind the suit of armor he was using as a shield as a spell knocked its helmet clean off. Lucky that wasn't his head. What a way to begin the day that would be.
How had he ended up in this mess anyway? Lee glanced across the hall where Fred and George sought refuge in the doorway of an abandoned classroom. Oh yes, the Weasley twins. Of course it started with them. Didn't it always?
"Oi, Lee, don't lose your head," Fred called over to him, bracing against the door as a spell broke against it.
"Haven't got a spell to fix that one," George added, blinding firing a spell around the corner of the door. None of them were dumb enough to poke their heads out to see if it found its mark.
It had started innocently enough. Lee had come across the twins huddled in an abandoned hall on the fifth floor. He had made the mistake of asking what they were up to, and he regretted it the minute the words had slipped out because they smiled. He'd seen that smile plenty of times before, and he understood all too well what it meant: trouble.
"We just stopped by to wish the Slytherin first years a good morning. Showing a little Hogwarts spirit and all," Fred had said, though his grin told a different story.
"In such a good mood, we were, that we thought we'd share the festive," George had agreed.
"It was harmless, really."
"An easy spell to undo."
"I'll bite. What'd you do to the Slytherins?"
"Turned them different colors."
"You...what?"
"Got the idea from Ron," Fred had said with a shrug. "Taught him a bogus spell his first year to change his stupid rat yellow."
"Didn't work, of course," George had added.
"Of course not. Complete bogus."
"Didn't stop him from trying for the entire year, though."
"Convinced he was doing it wrong."
"Yeah, yeah, but what about the Slytherins?"
"Oh, them. Thought they looked much better that way. Red—"
"—green—"
"—orange—"
"—blue—"
"—and my favorite: a rainbow."
"Oh yeah, that was pretty wicked, wasn't it?"
"How'd they take it?" Lee had dared ask, though a sinking feeling in his gut already gave him the answer.
"The first years were fine," Fred had answered.
"Yeah. It was the third years that really got their knickers in a twist."
Lee dove against the floor as the suit of armor rattled. It made for a lousy bloody hiding spot, but he had realized that a bit late. It's not like the third-year Slytherins had given them much warning before they started firing off spells, and he had taken cover where he could.
"Waddiwasi," he said, pointing his wand at the discarded helmet several feet away. It jerked to life and flew towards the Slytherins. Did a good job, too, judging by the loud clunk and the angry shouts coming from the other end of the hallway.
"What about yellow?" he called across the hall to the Weasley twins, who were alternating between laughing and blindly throwing spells.
"What?" Fred asked, frowning slightly.
"When you listed off your colors, you forgot to mention yellow."
"Care to do the honors, Georgie?"
"Would I."
As George leaned towards the edge of the door to cast his spell, Lee prepared his own wand. What was a yellow student without a matching tail? After all, it wasn't called "canary" yellow for nothing, was it? Simultaneously, they fired their spells and peeked out, hoping to see who they hit.
"Merlin's beard," George whispered, prompting Fred to press his head down and lean out over his brother.
Their spells had indeed hit someone—Headmaster Dumbledore, who was now a rather vibrant yellow and had sprouted a feathered tail.
"Misters Weasley and Mister Jordan. I can't say I'm particularly surprised to find you behind all of this. What have you to say for yourselves? Out with it."
"So...oops?" Lee said, issuing a nervous laugh and trying his best to simply shrug it off like it was nothing.
"It wasn't meant for you, Headmaster, honest," Fred said.
"Yeah, we were aiming for Flint over there."
"Figured that maybe if he looked like a bird he'd fly better in the next Quidditch game."
"Can I just say, though, that you look rather dashing in yellow, sir?"
"Oh yes, yellow is definitely your color. You can totally pull off—"
"Be that as it may," Headmaster Dumbledore interrupted, "While I appreciate your enthusiasm, students are forbidden from dueling in the hallway. You'll all be required to clean this up. Yes, that includes you Slytherins."
A chorus of groans echoed from down the hall, and Lee took pleasure, at least, in the fact that they wouldn't suffer alone.
"Fifteen points from both Slytherin and Gryffindor for your unacceptable behavior. And five points to Gryffindor for your...creativity, shall we say?"
Prompts:
Drabble Club: (Dialogue) "So...oops."
The Quidditch Pitch: (Spell) Waddiwasi