A/N: So, here I am again with my oneshot for round 5 of the QLFC. This time we had to write about a minor character who died in one of the wars. I was assigned with the character Gideon Prewett (Molly Weasley's brother) and I am to write about his OWLs. So there isn't a lot on his character, but I hope that I was able to characterize him well enough, and that you enjoy!
It was that lovely time of year, when fifth years began stressing themselves out and even the slackers had their heads stuck in books. Yes, it was time to take the ever wonderful O.W.L's.
The whole school was in test mode, and the Gryffindor common room was no exception. Textbooks and notes covered every gold and red banner in sight, and the loud and rowdy laughter that typically filled the air was replaced with silence, with the occasional flipping of the page or scribbling of the quill.
I, of course, was not fazed or nervous about the tests. My brother Fabian and I had come up with a foolproof plan to ace our O.W.L's: Perfection Parchment. With Fabian's incredible skills with charms and my ability to sell anything, not only were we going to ace our O.W.L's, we were also going to become rich. Fabian had managed to create a series of cheating spells that could charm any piece of parchment into writing a full blown essay for you. Because no one person had the same spell, it was untraceable!
As neither of us was too selfish, we began selling the spell to the other fifth years, and making quite the profit. We thought about including our sister, Molly, but for starters she was a major liability and would be willing to sell us out to mum in just a few seconds. Plus, she would be too busy snogging Arthur Weasley anyways...
It was better for everyone to just leave her out of our little plan.
"Guess what, little brother?" Fabian asked me excitedly, appearing out of nowhere, half scaring me to death.
"What, Fab?" I asked.
"I just sold another two spells; another 20 galleons just like that!" he exclaimed with a bright smile. His smile didn't last long as we noticed an all too familiar owl heading towards us.
Our family's chestnut spotted owl landed in the nearby window sill and dropped a letter. Only, it was no ordinary letter; we had ourselves a howler from our mum.
"GIDEON AND FABIAN PREWETT! WHAT IS THIS I HEAR ABOUT YOU CHEATING ON YOUR OWLS? IF WHAT MOLLY SAY IS TRUE, BOTH YOU BOYS ARE IN BIG, BIG TROUBLE. YOU HEAR ME? BIG TROUBLE! SO GET YOUR ACTS TOGETHER YOUNG MEN OR YOU WILL NEVER SEE DAYLIGHT AGAIN! Oh, and Molly if you are around, thank you for keeping an eye on the boys for me, dear. Love, Mum."
With that, the letter exploded and laughter erupted throughout the entire Gryffindor common room. With nothing else to do, Fabian and I joined in with the rest of the common room. If anything, we Gryffindors needed nothing other than a good laugh to lift our spirits.
At this point, I decided it was best to ditch the cheating spells and actually pick up a textbook and study like most of the other students. It was probably for the best; after all, Molly had mentioned to me that a Ravenclaw had found out that they were making us write with Anti-Cheating quills this year. The Perfection Parchment spell most likely would not go down too well, if that was the case.
. . .
"Okay students, the test shall be simple. The rules are on the first page of your test, and you may begin whenever you feel ready," our Potions Master, Professor Lavish announced after she had finished passing out the tests to each student. After that, she snapped her fingers, and a pair of bright purple quills appeared on top each of our tests.
"Oh, and don't forget, you're only allowed to use Anti-Cheating Quills. We are using them this year to prevent cheating from all you slackers. I'm looking at you Mr. Prewett. Now you may begin whenever you are ready," Professor Lavish added with a slight smile in my direction.
I looked at the first page and smiled. No questions, just rules. Reading the rules couldn't be too hard.
Rules:
1) No cheating (with or without magic) If you do wish to cheat, you risk losing an eyebrow. You have been warned.
2) No cheating. We cannot stress how important it is not to cheat. Plus, we do not wish to look at you eyebrow-less. (Really, we promise it isn't pretty)
3) Do your best. If you have to, just make something up. (Blank tests are boring to fail; tests with funny answers are fun to fail)
4) No cheating. If you still feel the will to cheat by now, go for it. Your lost eyebrow, not mine.
Enjoy and good luck students,
Professor Dumbledore
Well, the rules seemed simple enough. At this point I was glad I had at least studied a little bit, because I admit it, I would rather keep my eyebrows.
I looked down at the first question on my test: What potion is this? Below, was an in image of a periwinkle and magenta striped potion. I easily identified it as the Organ Growing potion. The only reason I recognized it, was because at the beginning of the year I managed to slip a vial of it into Fabian's pumpkin juice and watching his nose become massive.
I began flipping through the test. With all of my pranking experiences, I realized that studying was almost unnecessary. I had taught myself more from pranking and researching cheating spells, then actual studying. Who would have known?
I'm sure that mum would not be pleased with the way I studied, but if I do as well as I think I did, then I'm sure she wouldn't mind my "research." I continued to flip through the pages until I reached question number 19: What are the three main ingredients in the Happiness Potion?
I had no clue. Anybody who had actually studied would most likely know the answer. I on the other hand was hopeless. Referring back to rule number three, I smiled as I wrote:
The three main ingredients in the Happiness Potion are a smile from Molly, a prank from Fabian, and a laugh from Gideon. Forget the potion; that stuff actually makes people happy.
QFLC Info
Title: A Smile, a Prank, and a Laugh
Author: butterflygirly99
Team/Position: Kestrals/Keeper
Word Count: 1,020