Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter. *sigh* All rights go to respective owners.
Chapter Summary: The real reason why Professor Flitwick wouldn't remove the Weasley twins' Portable Swamp. Also, no one understands Ravenclaw humor.
Prompt (Year Long Scavenger Hunt — Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges): Write about twins mischief without writing about Fred and George Weasley [25 points].
An Obol for Safe Passage
It all started the first day of classes after, what most Gryffindors were calling, "The Best Day Ever," when the fourth-year Ravenclaw students were scheduled to attend Defense Against the Dark Arts. Normally that would have not raised too many eyebrows. But now that a swamp covered a good portion of second-floor corridor, attending class did raise some logistical concerns.
New Headmistress Umbridge, who was normally in an unpleasant mood, was now undeniably foul. Rogue magical fireworks and a swamp had pushed her to the edge, and she had demanded help from the staff. Professor Flitwick had calmly stood by the other teachers and claimed that he couldn't get rid of the random fireworks or the massive swamp. It was obvious to everyone, including Umbridge, that they were lying, but there wasn't anything that she could do. After all, she had tied her own hands when she created all of the Educational Decrees.
The only solution to the problem was to ignore the fireworks and have Filch ferry students across the second-floor swamp in a boat.
Needless to say, Filch was not pleased.
The fourth-year Ravenclaw students were among the first to be ferried across the swamp. Professor Flitwick was escorting the students and helping them get on and off the boat. Little Luna Lovegood moved to follow her classmates, but abruptly stopped at the edge of the boat. Quickly reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a small, shiny, odd-looking coin and presented it to Filch.
Looking him in the eye, she said in an ethereal tone, "For safe passage, Ferryman." Filch eyed the coin suspiciously in Luna's hand. When Filch didn't take the coin, Luna pushed it towards him and repeated, "For safe passage, Ferryman."
Filch reluctantly took the coin (An obol, Flitwick realized) and Luna regally stepped onto the boat. Her simultaneous determined and morose expression nearly sent Professor Flitwick into hysteria. He barely made it to the professor's break room before he burst into laughter. Thankfully, only Professor McGonagall was in the room at the time.
"What is so amusing, Filius?" McGonagall asked, an eyebrow raised in question.
Through his laughter and tears, Flitwick tried his best to explain what had happened. The more he explained, the more lost McGonagall looked.
"But why is that funny?" she kept asking.
Finally, Flitwick sat down in a nearby chair and said, "It was her way of protesting the current climate in the school, Minerva."
"Oh," McGonagall could understand that, "well I can support that."
By the end of the day, the rest of the Ravenclaws learned what Luna had done and thought it was brilliant. They helped Luna transfigure a pile of pebbles into obols and also replicate them, so that they could be passed around the House. The story was explained to the younger students, who soon became excited to do something fun. Spirits were lifted in Ravenclaw tower.
By lunch the following day, Padma Patil had explained to Parvati what was going on and outlined her own plan. Convincing Parvati to agree with her plan didn't take as long as she thought it would. All Padma had to say was that it was a good way for Parvati to practice her divination skills and support a fellow DA member.
After lunch ended, the Patil twins started following Luna around school. Whenever Luna said something odd or handed Filch an obol, Parvati would begin to dramatically tell the future, while Padma would somberly begin to measure a piece of thread and threateningly hold up scissors. Luna was delighted with the support and the rest of Ravenclaw thought it was hilarious.
Of course, the fun ended after a week with a couple of Educational Decrees (something about not giving Filch money and not being allowed to own scissors). But every time Ravenclaw students had to cross the swamp, many would be fighting smiles and laughter. Professor Flitwick thought it was the most wonderful thing and that he had never seen his House so happy.
And that was the real reason why Professor Flitwick wouldn't remove the swamp.
A/N — For those of you who are not too familiar with Greek history and mythology, an obol was a coin used to pay the ferryman, Charon, for a ride to the Underworld. If a soul couldn't pay for a ride, they were forever stuck and unable to properly move on. This is why there was a tradition of placing an obol in the mouth of the deceased. Heroes, like Hercules, also traveled to and from the Underworld while they were alive.
Charon is also described in pretty unflattering ways and doesn't seem to be an all around happy guy. You can see why I thought of Filch when I was writing this. Also, the correlation between traveling to Hades' kingdom and going to Umbridge's DADA class or her office should be obvious.
Also, Luna and the Patil twins were an allusion to the Moirai, also known as the Fates.
