Dangerous Depths of the Lake and the Rescue of Ron Chapter 1: Percy's Lies "Go away!" Little six-year-old Ron cried at his seven-year-old twin brothers, Fred and George. They stood tall over him in the backyard by the lake, George pointing their mother's wand at his cherry-red tear-stained face. "Well, Ronnikins, you bust our very first trick wand, you pay the high price! We're not going away until your punishment is served!" Fred shouted at the whimpering Ron on the muddy ground, wiping his thick, brightest-possible red-orange mop of shaggy hair that every Weasley had out of his frightened face. What Fred spoke was not true, for he and George had been causing chaos and havoc in the Weasley household with their newly- invented trick wands earlier that morning. They had blasted and blown-up many of Percy's old research books that had once belonged to their great- grandfather that Percy had discovered in the attic, piled them in his room and sometimes looked at them, showing off and pretending he could actually read and understand them. They were precious to him and he thought having them meant he was smart and mature. When the twins caused them to explode, Percy exploded as well. At breakfast Mrs. Weasley demanded they left the trick wand in their room. While they threw their bacon and eggs at each other, Percy asked to be excused to go to the bathroom. He crept upstairs into the twins' room to find one very brightly coloured wand tossing blue and green sparkles around, bouncing off the walls and banging off the ceiling. He carefully strode up to the small wooden table the wand was sitting on. He lifted it lightly in his clammy little hands. He admired his brothers' work, twirling and spinning the wand delicately between his fingers before placing both his thumbs on either side of the sharp tips and twisting it slowly. A few feeble flashes of purple glimmered out of the end and he bent it until...... SNAP!!! It broke in two, red and gold glitter shooting around the room like wildfire, silver glows beamed in his chocolate brown eyes. He dropped the two halves, though still joined by a single twig, to the shiny, sleek wooden floor. He veered on his heel, marching out of the twins' room. He had enough time to duck into his room before the twins came running up the stairs and darted into their room. Percy shut his eyes tight when he heard the loud and sad wails coming though the walls and into his guilty ears.

"Fred, George, what happened?!?!" screamed Mrs. Weasley, racing into the hall, then into the twins' doorway, Mr. Weasley not far behind. She looked from the broken wand to the miserable sobbing faces of her children to her perplexed husband and back to the destroyed wand. Suddenly, Percy stepped out of his room. All eyes turned to him including Fred and George's bloodshot ones. He took a deep breath and a big gulp. He murmured: "I saw the whole thing. Ron broke the wand."