Chapter 10: Rule Breaking

Over the next few weeks, after Alicia's findings-out at Halloween, she became very suspicious of Professor Viridian and his secretive strange behaviour.

She began to quietly hang around the third floor corridor, in the hopes of viewing further unusual activity.

Three weeks passed and Alicia saw no sign of any funny behaviour around the third floor. She began to get bored of patrolling the corridors and wondered whether to give up the whole silly idea.

Perhaps what she had seen was completely explainable. Perhaps the business with Peeves was purely coincidental. And maybe Fred and George's supposed Memory Charm was something completely different.

She considered giving up, when one day, as she was on her way to the Owlery early one Saturday morning; she caught sight of Professor Viridian. At first, she thought that this was perfectly normal. Why shouldn't he be walking along the corridors in the morning?

But then she remembered how early it was…and something about the way he was furtively glancing around him and appeared to have something hidden under his cloak, struck a false note in her mind.

She quietly hurried along after him, being careful to remain out of sight. What was this mysterious Professor up to?

Unsurprisingly he was heading for the Trophy Room on the third floor again. Alicia followed him as silently as she could. At one point, she forgot to look where she was going and crashed into an ornamental pot in the corridor, stubbing her toe painfully and cursing in a loud whisper. He looked as though he had heard something, because he whipped round suspiciously.

Alicia had just about managed to slip into a narrow corridor leading off the main one in time, heart pounding, and when she peered around the corner a few moments later, he appeared to have gone on without concern.

He reached the Trophy Room and, casting a spell; he opened the door and slipped in. Alicia moved forward and peered around the door cautiously.

He had moved to the end of the room and was carefully uncovering something in the corner of the room. It was the cabinet again.

Alicia frowned. What was that cabinet?

Then Viridian drew from underneath his cloak a large golden head which appeared to have once been part of a statue. In fact Alicia thought she recognised it as being part of statue that was placed in one of the seventh floor corridors. He also brought out some valuable looking astronomy equipment: some gold telescopes and something else that Alicia couldn't identify.

He placed all the items including two more solid silver trophies into the cabinet and locked the door. Then he unlocked it again and the cabinet was empty. He locked it again, seeming satisfied.

Alicia gasped as realisation hit her.

The teacher whirled around and saw Alicia standing in the doorway, looking guilty.

"Good morning, Miss Spinnet," Professor Viridian said, as nonchalantly as he could muster but seeming flustered.

Alicia went pink. "Um …good morning Professor," she stuttered. "I was just going to send a letter in the Owlery," here she waved her letter for confirmation, "and I heard a noise from here. I just thought I'd come and see who it was," she said hastily.

"Right, right," replied the professor, distractedly.

"Well, I'd better go," Alicia mumbled, taking a step backwards. She turned hurriedly and began to walk away down the corridor, her cheeks flaming.

What she didn't see was Professor Viridian peer out along the corridor after her. She didn't see him take out his wand, point it at her and utter a spell. But someone else did.

The day before Alicia's early morning walk and newest discovery, Bill was talking to Charlie at dinner.

"It's funny," he began, "I keep seeing Alicia hanging around on the third floor when I'm doing my patrolling duties."

Charlie looked up from his meal in mild interest.

"It's strange because I've seen her there for the second week running," Bill continued.

Charlie took a sip of pumpkin juice and listened as Bill explained.

"Any ideas?" Bill asked when he'd finished.

"Er, no can't say I have," Charlie lied. In truth, the first thing that had sprung to mind was the remembrance of finding Fred and George trapped in a cupboard on the third floor, with their memories seemingly erased from a certain point. "No, no idea," he said.

Bill looked unconcerned and changed the subject. But as he was talking, Charlie's mind was turning over possible theories. By the end of the meal, his mind was made up. Alicia was up to something. And he was going to find out what it was.

Alicia rounded the corner quickly, her heart thumping. She hoped she had managed to conceal her real motives convincingly enough.

Suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. She jumped violently and a voice said quick and low: "Did you see that?"

She had realised by this point that the owner of the hand and the voice was Charlie and she was scowling at him to let go of her arm.

But he simply repeated: "Did you see that?"

"See what?" she said irritably, her shock immediately forgotten.

"Professor Viridian just tried to hex you," Charlie said.

"What?" Now she was listening. "He what?"

"Yes," Charlie said, his voice still urgent. "I saw him do it, as you were walking away."

Alicia, however, looked unconvinced. "It's another one of your silly jokes, isn't it?" she said. "What are you even doing here, Weasley?" she said scathingly.

Charlie just shook his head dismissively. "No, no I'm serious. What did you see? What was he doing in the Trophy Room?"

Alicia's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why should I tell you?" she said.

"Because," Charlie said patiently. "Then I'll tell you what I saw."

Alicia thought for a moment, then sighed.

And she told him her suspicions. All about seeing the professor's odd behaviour the first time. Then overhearing Filch talking to Snape about missing trophies. And finally about the cabinet.

All the time, Charlie listened carefully. When she was finished, he tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"So?" Alicia looked at him expectantly.

"So, what?"

"What did you see?" she asked impatiently.

"Ah, now you're interested," Charlie said with a grin.

Alicia tapped her foot, a warning expression on her face.

Charlie hastily began to explain. "As you were walking away, I saw him take out his wand and point it at you and clearly say a spell. He appeared to say 'Obliviate' but the spell obviously missed you, as you can still remember everything."

Alicia frowned. "It rather seems like Memory Charms are his speciality. It must have been him who erased Fred and George's memories the night of our detention. They must have caught him doing whatever he's doing and so he erased their memories and locked them a cupboard so he could get away….But what I don't understand, is what he's doing. What's that old cabinet?" Alicia pondered.

Charlie thought for a moment. "Well I suppose it must be some sort of vanishing cabinet, mustn't it? I mean, you clearly saw him put some things in, but when he opened it again, they were gone, weren't they?"

Alicia nodded, biting her lip. "I suppose you're right."

"I guess that he's putting these items into the Vanishing Cabinet which transports them somewhere else. Right? And he presumably sells them off otherwise he'd have no motive. And I'd reckon they're worth quite a bit," Charlie said.

"In which case," Alicia said slowly, "We're going to need to talk to Professor McGonagall."

"Are you quite sure of what you saw?" McGonagall said, with a clear air of impatience.

Alicia nodded earnestly. McGonagall's shrewd expression showed her scepticism plainly.

"Well, I have to say, I am not convinced. I do not think that it is anything to be worrying about. Professor Viridian is a highly respected professor and I would not suspect him for a moment. I suggest you two stop meddling in matters that don't concern you, and focus on your studies. Especially you, Mr Weasley. Some of your teachers tell me your grades are slipping below their normal exemplary record. Don't make it a habit. And as for you Miss Spinnet," She turned to Alicia. "Though your grades are of the highest standard, I suggest you spend more time on other more important matters than snooping around."

Her expression softened. "I'm told you are already a very good flier. Perhaps we shall see you make the team next year," she smiled.

Alicia, who before had been blushing with embarrassment, smiled meekly and nodded.

"Of course, Professor. Sorry to have wasted your time," Alicia replied, bowing her head.

Charlie apologised to McGonagall and they left the office in disappointment.

"Clearly," Charlie said. "We are going to have to take matters into our own hands."

Alicia looked at him sceptically. "What is that supposed to mean?" she scoffed.

Charlie just grinned. "It means," he said. "We're going to have to do things the Weasley way."

"So let me get this straight," Alicia said, her voice incredulous and somewhat apprehensive. "Your plan is to convince Peeves to steal the cabinet while Viridian is around, and drop it somewhere to make a commotion. Bring the teachers running and prove his guilt."

"Yep, pretty much," Charlie grinned. "Foolproof."

Alicia rolled her eyes and pursed her lips. "Whatever," she sighed. "But how exactly are you planning on getting Peeves to do as you say? He never takes orders from students. He'll most likely drop the cabinet on you," Alicia pointed out. "Not that that would necessarily be a bad thing," she added under her breath.

Charlie looked amused. "I have ways and means," he said assuredly.

"It's not the bloody Weasley charm again, is it?" Alicia groaned.

Charlie laughed. "Something like it. But we're going to need to find the perfect time to do it. We'll just have to bide our time for now."

When Alicia woke on Christmas Eve Day, she was filled with excitement. She couldn't believe it was the end of her first term at Hogwarts, and more importantly she was spending Christmas at the castle with Angelina, whose parents had gone away for a few months to visit some relatives.

Fred and George were, to her disappointment, going home to the Burrow for Christmas, but they had promised to write every day.

"Wow, that's quite a commitment. Ten sickles you won't follow through on that one," Alicia had said.

Fred had looked offended but grabbed her hand all the same and shook it violently. "You're on."

"Betting again, dear brother? You sure that's wise?" Charlie had said, coming over to join them.

Fred chuckled and gave Charlie a shove. "I'm not giving you those sickles. It wasn't a fair bet."

Charlie had grinned and started packing some of his things into his bag.

"So we, that is, George and I, solemnly promise to send you a letter every day plus, of course, your amazing Christmas present," Fred said.

"And I'll send you a garden gnome," Charlie had put in, with a smirk.

Alicia gave him a look. "Har har," she said sarcastically, but secretly thought it would be a rather interesting gift. She'd never seen a garden gnome before, being new to most things in the wizarding world.

So, she was surprised and half-pleased when she heard the news that the Weasleys would be staying at Hogwarts for Christmas after all, as their brother Ron was very sick and they were all in quarantine.

As they all sat down to breakfast together on Christmas Eve day, there were few students left. Alicia noted that her, Angelina and the Weasleys were the only Gryffindors left for Christmas, a few Hufflepuffs, a few more Ravenclaws and only a handful of Slytherin.

They spent the morning at Hagrid's where they had a raucous discussion about house elves. Well, everyone else had a good-natured debate. Charlie and Alicia had a full-out argument.

They were still arguing (about something completely different by this point) when they all headed back up to the castle with Hagrid for lunch. Angelina had to sit between them at lunch to prevent them from giving up talking and hexing each other.

In the afternoon they all walked down to Hogsmeade together. This was the first time that Angelina and Alicia had been to Hogsmeade as first years were not allowed to visit it during the school term.

Alicia had, of course, already seen parts of it when she had come to rescue Fred and George but that had been by night and Hogsmeade was so different during the day, covered in a blanket of crisp snow.

They finally headed back up to the castle in the late afternoon, cheerfully warm from a bottle of Butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks, laden down with boxes of last minute Christmas shopping and sweets from Honeydukes.

That evening, they all had a great time with the Common Room all to themselves, so they played many games of Wizard Chess and Exploding Snap. Only, Charlie had cleverly enchanted his pack of Exploding Snap cards so that the game became Exploding "Snape". The game involved much laughter and glee.

That night, they all went to bed in high spirits, eagerly awaiting the next day.

The next morning, at the crack of dawn, Alicia leapt out of bed and flung open the curtains of their dorm window.

Angelina groaned as the bright sun flooded in. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and rolled over, pulling her covers over her head.

Alicia simply bounded over to her bed and ripped the covers off. Angelina shied away from the cold and curled up in a ball.

Alicia grinned. "Not a morning person, I take it?"

Angelina rolled over, an extremely disgruntled look on her face. "I am a morning person, just not a crack of bloody dawn person!" And with that, she promptly rolled over and fell asleep again.

"Well that's no fun," Alicia said aloud grumpily. Then her face lit up. "But there's always the boys."

"Rise and shine!" Alicia shouted, stomping into the dormitory that the Weasleys were sharing for the holidays, and flinging the curtains open.

Three pairs of eyes looked up at her in a particularly displeased fashion.

"Merry Christmas!" she cried chirpily to Fred, George and Bill, who were now sitting up, rubbing their sleepy eyes. "What a beautiful day it is!" she said loudly. "And look! It's been snowi-"

She was cut off and her voice was muffled as she was hit full in the face with a pillow.

"Hey!" she cried indignantly, scrabbling to pull the pillow from her face.

"Thank you Charlie," the other three muttered gratefully and went back to sleep.

Alicia sighed. Whatever happened to the morning people of the world?

Three hours later, the four boys and Angelina came down the stairs, still in pyjamas, but looking a little more refreshed. They were carrying their piles of presents which had been left at the foot of their beds.

"We're here, Alicia!" Angelina called as they came down the steps. "We can open our presents now."

The five of them rounded the corner and came into the Common Room, to find Alicia fast asleep on the sofa.

The boys chuckled with laughter and Angelina giggled. She went over to Alicia and gradually shook her awake.

"Rise and shine, morning person," she said.

Alicia yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Whhhatt?" she said sleepily, opening her eyes fully to see five faces peering down at her, smirks written on all of them.

She looked sheepish. "Must have just nodded off for a moment there," she hedged.

Angelina looked disbelieving. "Alicia, you were snoring," she remarked.

"I was not!" Alicia retorted, outraged. "I was just…"

"Breathing loudly?" Charlie offered helpfully.

She glared at him. "No," she said. "I-"

Angelina interrupted her. "Come on, let's open some presents."

They spent an hour opening their presents with great delight. Rather, the girls spent an hour opening their presents joyfully while the boys opened one of the presents to find that Charlie had been sent a new broomstick by his godmother, which they immediately rushed outside to test out, still clad in pyjamas.

"They're going to be cold," Alicia remarked.

Angelina just shook her head in disbelief. "Oh, the things boys do for love," she said. "Of Quidditch," she added, with a grin. "You opened everything yet?" she asked.

Alicia cast her eyes around her at her enormous pile of presents and wrappings. She was extremely pleased with her haul: a pair of cosy bed socks and a large volume of wizarding stories from Angelina, a Sneakoscope and a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans from George, a new telescope from Fred, which he explained was to replace the one he had "accidentally" thrown in the lake, along with an enormous carton of Chocolate Frogs, a beautiful white knitted sweater and a box of mince pies from Mrs Weasley whom she had not yet met but had written that she very much wanted to meet Fred and George's wonderful new friend who was trying so hard to keep them out of trouble. She also received a tin of dubious looking treacle from Hagrid, along with a lovely carved wooden pendant. Her room mates had sent her various assorted sweets.

As she and Angelina were clearing away the wrappings, Angelina found something else.

"Here Alicia," she said, chucking over a small wrapped parcel. "This one's for you too."

Alicia took it curiously and began to unwrap it slowly. She pulled off the string and out fell a little silver charm bracelet. There was one charm already hanging off it. Alicia looked closely at it. It was a little silver figure of a garden gnome. She gave a sudden grin as she realised who it was from and she grabbed the note that had accompanied it which she had previously overlooked, which lay in the wrappings. It read:

Spinnet,

Apologies for the failure of a real garden gnome as I promised. Thought this might be a suitable replacement?

Weasley.

She gave a chuckle and Angelina looked over at her curiously.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Oh, it's nothing much," Alicia replied, putting the bracelet on and slipping it underneath her new white jumper.

Half an hour later, the boys returned, pink cheeked and breathless from their broom-testing, and they went upstairs to change.

Then they went down to breakfast, much later than usual.

"I'll catch you up," called Charlie from their dormitory, wanting to make sure his new broom was securely locked up.

He locked it safely away in his trunk and that was when he caught sight of a large blue package lying at the foot of his bed, unseen as it was slightly pushed underneath the bed.

He bent down and picked it up. It was heavy in his hands and looked like a book.

He carefully unwrapped it to reveal a large book of some sort. He turned it over in his hands and saw, to his surprise and astonishment, that it was a homework planner.

He looked at it incredulously for a moment, wondering who on earth could have sent him something like that.

"Don't leave it till later, you big second-rater!" the book shrilly commanded, as he opened it tentatively. Charlie gave a start and dropped the book hastily, conveniently underneath a pile of Quidditch robes.

Then he gave a sudden grin and he read through the note that accompanied it to confirm the sender.

Weasley,

I seem to remember you begging me to buy you one of my fabulous homework planners for Christmas, and I always keep my word. Maybe this book will stop your grades slipping so dreadfully…

Use it well.

You-know-who (well, not him)

He gave a chuckle and headed down to breakfast, the grin still on his face.

Christmas Day was a cheerful affair; full of laughter, joking and delicious food. There was a general air of goodwill throughout the whole day. Even Charlie and Alicia weren't in the mood for bickering.