A week or so after Professor McGonagall had come around to each of the students to see who was staying at Hogwarts over the Christmas period, Fred, Lee, and George walked passed a small group of students gathered around the noticeboard near the main entrance to the school. There was a fresh parchment pinned to the board.

"I wonder what Filch has banned this time," said George, as they approached the board. The caretaker had managed to ban a whole number of interesting and fun items over the years, most of which were a direct result of Fred and George having brought them to the school in the first place.

"Looks like they're starting a Duelling Club," said Lee, reading the parchment.

"Again?" said Fred, recalling the time two years previous that a similar club had been started by their Uncle Enoch whilst he was the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. "I'm surprised they want to risk it after last time."

"Yeah one meeting before McGonagall shut the whole thing down," said George. "Although I think that it had more to do with Enoch's friends from the pub gambling on the matches. Might be different this time."

"Depends who is running it," said Lee. "Flitwick might be fun. I think he was a champion dueller when he was younger, but I don't fancy McGonagall or Snape doing it."

"It's on tonight at eight," said Fred, tapping his finger on the page. "Might as well stick around after dinner and see. I'm the undisputed Hogwarts champion after all."

"You beat Flint," said George. "How does that possibly make you undisputed champion?"

"Well, no one undisputed it for a start," reasoned Fred.

"Do you even know what 'undisputed' means?" asked Lee.

"Handsome?" ventured Fred.

The three boys headed down to the Great Hall later on that evening along with a large contingent of the student body eager to join. Most people had gone thinking it would be a good idea to get some kind of combat training to help them defend themselves against whatever had been attacking the students late at night.

The long dining tables had disappeared and a large golden stage was now in place along one of the walls, lit by thousands of candles floating overhead. The hall was filled with students all clutching their wands with excitement. There was an excited murmur from the crowd as Lockhart in splendid purple robes and Snape in his usual black ones stepped onto the stage.

"Gather round, gather round," Lockhart ordered, beckoning everyone towards him. "Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!"

"Great," said Lee, leaning towards Fred and George as Lockhart started addressing the crowd. "It looks like all we'll be learning in Duelling Club is how to pose."

"I already know how to do that," said Fred, flexing his muscles theatrically.

After a few moments Snape and Lockhart decided to give the students a quick demonstration on Duelling techniques. This resulted in the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher being flung backward by a Disarming Spell. He was repelled across the room and landing in an unflattering pile on the ground. Despite what most people would have considered an embarrassing defeat, Lockhart jumped to his feet and pretended that he had deliberately let Snape attack him just to give the students a demonstration on what they should expect from their opponents.

Rather than continue the demonstration Lockhart decided to start pairing students together to practice amongst themselves. Fred and George immediately paired themselves together while Lee matched himself with a third year Hufflepuff boy who had accidentally wandered into the Great Hall to see what all the noise had been about.

"You're going down Fred," advised George, flourishing his wand in an extremely flamboyant manner.

"You'll have to hit me first," replied Fred, bouncing from one foot to the other.

"Face your partners!" called Lockhart, standing on the stage. "And bow! Wands at the ready! When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents… only to disarm, we don't want any accidents. One… two… three…"

What happened next could only be described as 'pandemonium'. Someone had fired off a spell on the count of 'two' which triggered everyone else to launch into their own attacks. Fred immediately dove to one side when he saw his brother raise his wand. George, however, suspected his brother would try dodging first and had waited until Fred had flung himself to the ground before he fired his incantation. Fortunately for Fred the attack missed. Unfortunately for Lee, Fred had decided to grab hold of him and use him as a human-shield.

"Gerroff," shouted Lee, trying to dodge his opponent's spells, as well as George's, whilst trying to get loose from Fred's grip.

"I said disarm only!" shouted Lockhart over the battling crowd.

"Rictusempra!" said Fred, trying to hit his brother but firing straight up as Lee grabbed hold of his arm and stamped down on his foot. "Ow!"

"Stop! Stop!" screamed Lockhart.

"Finite Incantatem!" bellowed Snape, causing the magic to cease.

"Really?" said Lee, turning around to talk to Fred. "A shield? You used me as a shield?"

"No," said Fred. "Would you believe I was trying to protect you?"

"Yeah, fat chance," scoffed Lee. He pointed at George. "And you! Were you trying to hit me or him?"

"Either one would have worked," said George, shrugging.

"I think I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells," said Lockhart looking around at the carnage the last thirty seconds had caused. "Let's have a volunteer pair… Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you…"

"A bad idea Professor Lockhart," said Snape, interrupting the man. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the Hospital Wing in a matchbox. How about Malfoy and Potter?"

"Excellent idea," said Lockhart, gesturing the two boys into the centre of the room while the rest of the students backed away to give them space.

"Who's your money on?" said George, as Lockhart gave Harry instructions on how to block spells, as Snape did likewise to Malfoy.

"Normally I'd say Harry but…" Fred tailed off as Lockhart dropped his wand which he had been waving around erratically. "You know what? He should be fine if he ignores everything that idiot says."

Malfoy and Harry faced each other.

"Three… two… one…go!" shouted Lockhart.

"Serpensortia!" shouted Malfoy.

A long black snake shot out of the end of the boy's wand and landed on the ground between him and Harry. It reared itself up and looked as though it were ready to strike. There were screams as everyone quickly took a step back and in some cases stood on someone else's toe in the hurry to move.

"Don't move, Potter," said Snape. "I'll get rid of it…"

"Allow me!" shouted Lockhart. He aimed his wand at the snake. There was a loud bang and the snake shot upward into the air about ten feet before fallen back and smacking off the ground. In its enraged state it slithered towards Justin Finch-Fletchley, the second year Hufflepuff who had been earlier paired with Neville.

There was a slight hissing sound and people quickly realised that it wasn't coming from the snake but from Harry who was slowly walking towards the creature, seemingly egging the snake on to try and attack Justin. Harry looked over at the Hufflepuff student and gave him a grin.

"What do you think you are playing at?" snapped Justin, before storming away.

Snape cast a spell at the snake causing it to vanish while Ron and Hermione grabbed hold of Harry and dragged him out of the Great Hall.

"He's a Parselmouth?" said Lee, as he watched the three leave the room in a hurry. He turned to the twins. "Did you know?"

"Oh yeah, he's always talking to the snakes that we carry around with us at all times," said George, sarcastically. "Of course, we didn't know."

"I told you he was the Heir," said Fred.

"Hang on; I said he was the Heir," said Lee. "You all laughed at me when I said that."

"Are you sure? It doesn't sound like something we would do," said George, scratching his chin.

"Well boys and girls," said Lockhart from the stage. "I think that is all for today. Well done, everyone well done. Keep checking the noticeboard to see when I've arranged our second meeting."

"Yeah, good luck with that," muttered Fred as everyone began filtering out.

"I told you there was something wrong with Potter," commented Malfoy to his two friends, Crabbe and Goyle, who constantly flanked him everywhere he went.

"Wow, you're sounding a bit jealous there," said George from behind.

"Me? Jealous of Potter?" snapped Malfoy whirling round to face him. "What am I jealous of? His dead parents?"

"Well he was made the youngest Seeker in a century last year," said George. "And you obviously wanted to play Quidditch since your dad helped buy your way onto the team."

"And now there's the fact that he's a Parselmouth," added Fred. "Which means he could be the Heir of Slytherin, something which I sure you would have loved to tell everyone was you."

"So yeah, it sounds like you're jealous," added George.

"Now listen here…" snarled Malfoy.

"You do know that if it turns out he is the Heir of Slytherin then you'll probably have to call him sir or something," advised Fred, talking over the younger boy.

"I didn't even think of that," said George. "You know what I did find funny though?"

"What's that, George?" said Fred.

"The fact that only a Gryffindor was good enough to be the Heir of Slytherin," said George.

"That's it…" said Malfoy, reaching for his wand.

"What's all the commotion boys?" asked Lockhart who had descended on the small group.

"Oh Malfoy here really wanted to learn your wand technique," said George quickly, pointing at the boy. "He was just trying to show us but I don't think he was paying much attention because he doesn't look as cool as you did."

"Oh well, dear boy why didn't you say you wanted some one-on-one tuition?" said Lockhart, beaming from ear to ear. He placed an arm around Malfoy's shoulder and led him over to one side of the room.

"Such an idiot," said Lee, shaking his head as the boy's exited the Great Hall.

"Which one?" asked Fred, looking back. Crabbe and Goyle were still stood in the same place and seemed unsure as to whether or not they should stick around and wait for Malfoy.

"All of them," said Lee, nodding his head.

"That was a waste of time," said George, pulling down the notice for the Duelling Club from the board as they passed.

"I dunno," said Fred. "If we hadn't had that meeting then we wouldn't know about Harry being a Parseltongue."

"Mouth," said George, correcting him.

"What?"

"Parselmouth, you said Parseltongue."

"Mouth, tongue, is there really a difference?"

"Is if you do it right," said Lee, grinning.

"Was that a joke about kissing?" said Fred.

"Well…"

"Who have you kissed?" asked George, before quickly adding, "and your mum doesn't count."

"Well there was… you… know…" stammered Lee. "You wouldn't know her, she's from back home."

"That's convenient, isn't it Fred?"

"Very convenient, George."

"Well, who have you two kissed?"

"Oh you wouldn't know her, she's from back home," said Fred quickly.

"Yeah, I thought so," said Lee.

"Thought what?" asked Angelina, who had, along with Alicia, come up behind the boys as everyone made their way up the Grand Staircase.

"That Fred's girlfriend, who he's never mentioned, is from back home," said Lee.

"You have a girlfriend?" asked Alicia flatly.

"He wishes," said George, punching his brother on the arm.

"I could have a girlfriend if I wanted one," said Fred. "It's not like I'm Percy or something."

"Percy has a girlfriend," said Angelina.

If Angelina had just said that she had seen Snape waltzing through the school in a bright pink dress with balloons attached to his hair the three boys would still not have looked as surprised as they did right then.

"Percy," said George. He turned around having stopped on one of the small landings on the stairs. "As in my brother Percy, has a girlfriend."

"Yeah," said Angelina.

"When you say girlfriend, do you mean 'girlfriend'?" said Fred, making a quotation gesture with his fingers. "Or do you mean he has a friend who just happens to be a girl."

"I mean he has a girlfriend," said Angelina. "As in an actual girlfriend."

"That just seems…" said George, shaking his head. "Who?"

"I'm not telling you that you'll just tease him about it," said Angelina. "Or worse; you'll tease her."

"Obviously," said George. He looked at the girl for a moment as though he were sizing her up. "It's not you is it?"

"What? No, of course not," scoffed Angelina.

"Good," said George. He noticed everyone's reaction. "Because if it was then I'd have to tease her about it and I don't particularly want to tease Angelina about that. You'd probably punch me in the throat or something."

"I might still do that," advised Angelina, causing George to step back quickly.

"Come on, would you at least give us a clue?" said Fred. "Is it someone in his year? Another Gryffindor? Is it Madam Pince?"

"Madam Pince?" said Lee, raising his eyebrows.

"Well he does spend a lot of time in the library," reasoned Fred. "Why else would he be in there?"

"Because he likes to study," said Lee.

"Oh yeah, I suppose," said Fred, as though it had only just occurred to him that the library was used for schoolwork.

"Come on, who is it?" said George, as the group started back up the stairs once again. "Do I know her?"

"How would I know if you know her?" asked Angelina.

"Well, tell me her name and I'll let you know if I know her," said George.

"Seeing as it took you most of last year before you got Hermione's name right and she's one of your brother's best friend, I'm going to assume you don't know her," said Angelina.

"Then just tell me her name," said George.

"No chance, you'll immediately go off and try and find her just to embarrass her or Percy."

"Exactly," said George, happy that they were on the same page.

"No," said Angelina firmly.

Despite George's pleas and outright begging Angelina stood firm for the rest of the walk back to Gryffindor Tower. Inside the Common Room was packed as those who were at the Duelling Club meeting brought the others up to speed on what had happened. A quick scan of the room revealed that Ron, Harry, nor Hermione had stuck around for any awkward questions.


The following morning brought a fresh sheet of snow which covered the whole of the school grounds and caused Professor Sprout to cancel the remaining Herbology lessons much to the delight of Fred and George as that had been their final class of the day. Unfortunately McGonagall hadn't followed suit and their morning lesson continued as usual.

"We'll be trying a simple transfiguration spell today and although I call it a simple spell you will still need all your concentration as you will be trying it out on each other," said McGonagall. The class were extremely excited as so far in their years at Hogwarts they had only performed magic on inanimate objects or small animals. "Today I will show you how to change your hair colour. As I said it's a very simple spell but when it comes to human transfiguration we can never be too careful."

She showed them the incantation and the corresponding wand motion, and told the class to copy her while she walked amongst the rows of tables until she was happy that each person was able to perform to her expectations.

"Okay turn towards the person next to you and being very careful to pronounce the incantation clearly perform the spell on my count. Only try it once and stop," ordered McGonagall sternly. "One… two… three…"

Everyone said the spell and waved their wands. Not a single person was able to get it to work.

"And again," said McGonagall. "Remember the slight turn of your wrist as you say the words."

Once again there was a chorus of words. This time there was an excited yelp from Alicia. Everyone turned around to see that Angelina's hair had changed from its usual black to a dark brown.

"Very good, Miss Spinnett, five points to Gryffindor," said McGonagall. "Now everyone keep going, just remember to pronounce the words carefully. Don't worry about the actual colour just concentrate on changing it in the first place."

It didn't take long but soon everyone was sitting in the class with different coloured hair.

"I think we look good blonde," commented George, looking at Fred who now had golden locks in place of his usual red hair.

"Speak for yourself," said Lee, who had borrow a mirror from Angelina to look at his own dreadlocks which had also been changed blonde.

Once everyone had become comfortable with changing the hair from its original colour McGonagall moved onto being able to change the colour of the hair to one chosen by the spell caster. It took a little more concentration but soon the students were changing each other's hair to whatever garish hue that came to mind. Some of them were even able to change the hair to multiple colours and basic patterns.

"What do you think?" said Alicia, who was now sporting black and white striped hair.

"Very good, everybody, very good. Now if you'll all just return each other's hair to normal and look at the blackboard, I will write down everything you've just learnt and you will copy it down for your notes as I'm sure many of you will require to refresh your knowledge when you return after the holidays," said McGonagall, waving her wand towards the chalk which started floating in the air and writing on the blackboard of its own accord. "It is important to remember…

"ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAACK!" came a scream from the corridor. This was followed by the crashing sound of a number of classroom doors being wildly swung open.

"Honestly, that Peeves," snapped McGonagall, hurrying towards the door. "Stay in your seats."

It was one of the few times nobody listened to the Deputy Headmistress and instead surged after her into the hallway where they found a Petrified Justin Finch-Fletchley lying in the middle of the floor, while a black and smoky Nearly Headless Nick was next to him, floating immobile a few inches off the ground. Both had a frozen expression of shock on their faces.

McGonagall used her wand to set off a loud bang to quieten the crowd which she then ordered back to their classrooms.

Just as they turned to leave a young Hufflepuff boy shouted, whilst pointing an accusatory finger, "caught in the act!"

"That will do, Macmillian!" snapped McGonagall sharply.

Fred and George turned to see at whom the boy had pointed. It had been Harry.


Reg the ghost lived a very similar life to Reg the wizard. The only real main difference was that he no longer had to open doors before going through them. He still lived in a small attic apartment above the office building. After Reg's death the owner of the building had gone into the attic to start sorting through his meagre possessions, with no doubt the view that he might be able to sell some of the items, and was extremely surprised to see Reg floating above the ground. Not nearly as surprised as Reg had been. One minute he was carefully leaning out of the attic window and the next he was back in the middle of the room and wondering why he could now see through his hand.

The building's owner had tried everything to get rid of Reg. He'd bought amulets, crystals, potions, and powders. He had consulted with wizards, and witches, all who claimed they could rid the building of Reg's ghostly presence. Nothing worked. Something that Reg felt rather guilty about. In the end they had come to an agreement Reg would be allowed to stay in the attic, not that there was any other option, and in return Reg would become an unofficial caretaker for the property. Since he never learnt how to actually touch things his main duties revolved around keeping squatters from illegally setting up in the building, which he usually managed by singing at them loudly and tunelessly until they left.

Most people that rented the offices didn't really like Reg's presence about the place and normally only lasted a few months before terminating their contract and moving on. Lexington and Miro on the other hand were not only delighted with the fact that the building came with a ghost but offered to pay Reg if he looked after anyone that came to their office while they were out.

Reg floated in the air in the middle of his attic room, slowly turning himself around. Occasionally he would dip his head through the floor to look into the detective agency office and let out a sigh of annoyance when it was clear everything was just perfectly fine like it had been the last few nights.

Just as he was about to give up for the night and try to sleep (not an easy thing to achieve when you can see through your own eyelids) Reg heard a faint creaking sound coming from below which had just enough difference compared with the usual groans the building made to make him investigate.

Peering through the ceiling Reg noticed a shadowy figure creeping into the office. He watched as the intruder made their way around the room and over to the desk.

"Hey you!" shouted Reg from above, causing the figure to look around in alarm.

There was a sudden bright red light as the interloper fired a Stunning spell into the air. Reg retreated upwards into the attic to allow the ceiling to block the attack before he floated back down.

"I say, stop that right this instance," ordered Reg, gliding into the room.

"Oh, you're just a ghost," said a male voice concealed beneath a hood.

"Just a ghost? Just a ghost!" said Reg indignantly. "I'll have you know I am part of the Wizard Detective Agency, the agency need I remind you that you are currently trespassing upon."

"You aren't even worth the effort to attack," snapped the man. He ran his hand long the top of the desk as he tried to locate the drawer.

"Now see here…" began Reg as the man's hand found the drawer handle.

There was a sudden loud bang and simultaneous bright flash of light as the man tried to open the drawer. He was flung backwards and landed heavily against the wall. Groaning, the man picked himself up approached the now open drawer and peered inside. He swore once he saw it was empty.

"Where is it?" he demanded, as a faint wisp of smoke curled out from the hood.

"Where's what?" replied Reg, unable to see properly due to the flash of light.

The man snorted in annoyance and quickly Apparated away. The whole incident from start to finish couldn't have lasted more than two minutes, but it was still the most exciting thing that Reg had ever experienced in life or death.

"I'll let Mr Lexington know right away," said Reg to himself before he realised he had no way to contact the man and didn't have a clue where he lived. "Oh… I guess I'll just wait here then."