Late in October the Hogwarts students were pleasantly woken by the smell of baked pumpkin wafting through the corridors, which in turn had been adorned with Halloween decorations streaming throughout the whole school.
"No matter how many years I am here, I'll never get tired of this," said Fred inhaling deeply as he, George and Lee made their way down to their Transfiguration class.
"You really like McGonagall's lessons that much?" asked Lee raising an eyebrow.
"No, I meant the baked pumpkins," replied Fred taking another intoxicating breath, as they wandered through the door of the class.
Early on in their school careers they had learnt that there were only two lessons that you made sure you weren't late for; Transfigurations and Potions. Most of the other teachers were more forgiving than McGonagall and Snape when it came to tardiness; in fact the twins had discovered that Professor Binns didn't even notice if students turned up to his class at all let alone if they were late, something that they used to their full advantage to enjoy a long lie in every Thursday morning.
"I wonder what we'll be doing today?" said George as the three boys settled into their seats behind Alicia and Angelina.
"Probably something boring again," complained Alicia, "ever since Hogsmeade she has been so uptight, well more than usual anyway."
"You three have a lot to answer for," said Angelina turning around and glaring at the three boys.
"Us?" said George looking offended. "It's not our fault we keep getting dull stuff."
"It's your fault McGonagall is in a bad mood therefore it is your fault that we are having boring lessons."
"You don't know it was our fault she is in a bad mood," countered Fred.
"Let's look at the facts shall we," said Alicia, "one: McGonagall returns to escort the third years back to Hogwarts covered head to toe in some disgusting smelling concoction…"
"You can't blame her choice of perfume on us," replied Lee folding his arms.
"Two:" Alicia carried on, ignoring the interruption, "when she gets back she calls you and the Idiot Brothers to her office for the next hour…"
"Lee Jordan and the Idiot Brothers," mused Lee thoughtfully, "not a bad name for a band."
"And three: you lot are put in detention every day for a month. It doesn't take a genius to link everything together."
Before either the twins or Lee could come up with a better argument McGonagall had entered the class room and closed the door behind her with a decisive thump. The students immediately stopped talking and faced the front of the room as McGonagall approached her desk.
"Today we'll be learning about the art of Animagi," McGonagall turned to address her class. She nodded towards Alicia who was holding her hand up, "yes Miss Spinnet?"
"Will we need our wands for this?"
"No," there was a slightly rumbling of groans under people's breath with a few pointed looks given in the directions of the twins and Lee. "Please open your books to page four hundred and forty seven and begin reading until the end of the chapter."
The class read in silence as they worked their way through the passages. The only sounds came from the occasionally stifling of the odd yawn and the low rustling as a page was turned.
"Right," said McGonagall once she was satisfied that the majority of people had finished reading the chapter, "who can tell me the difference between an Animagus in their animal form and someone who has been transformed into an animal by a wizard or witch?"
A few hands went up, including, surprisingly, Fred's. McGonagall's eyes flickered over his upraised palm.
"It should be noted that a correct answer will result in a House Point," McGonagall informed them, "but a blatantly silly answer will result in detention."
Fred lowered his hand sheepishly.
"Yes Miss Johnson?" McGonagall nodded towards the Gryffindor student.
"In their animal form Animagus still completely maintain their human minds," stated Angelina, "while someone who has been transformed into an animal only maintain their minds for a short time and will gradually revert towards the mind of an animal the longer they remained transformed."
"Excellent," McGonagall gave her a look of approval, "one point to Gryffindor."
The questions continued for most of the rest of the lesson, and while most of them were answered deftly by the class members, Fred and George spent most of their time trying to stifle yawns and watching the large clock on the wall, willing the second hand to tick by faster. Eventually their prayers were answered and the lesson came to an end. The students filtered out excitedly as that evening was the night of the Halloween feast.
Although the three boys were now in their third year they couldn't help but still be impressed by the Halloween decorations in the Great Hall. Along the sides of the walls were reams of orange and black ribbons that snaked in and out of the various pictures and portraits that hung the wall, dotted about the room were several large pumpkins that had been carved into different ghoulish faces and charmed to appear lifelike. There was a number of smaller carved pumpkins on the tables themselves, these however hadn't been animated and instead contained candles within them, although since they were magical candles the flames changed colours on occasion to give the room a multicolour hue.
The younger students kept looking up uncertainly at the swarm of bats that hung from the walls and ceiling, alternating between screaming and ducking as a cloud of them suddenly dispatched themselves from the wall and flew overhead across the width of the room. It took them a while to get use to the fluttering of the wings and the sudden flicking of the candles as another group of bats took to the air, but after much reassuring from the older students they soon began to relax and would only occasionally flinch as one of the winged creatures flew too close as they passed.
"Now this is how you celebrate Halloween," admitted Lee settling down in front of a table. Instead of the normal plates that were used everyday, the places were instead set with the golden variety normally used at the beginning and end of year feasts.
"I think it should be decorated like this every day," said George looking around the room just as the Halloween feast materialised in front of them.
"Wouldn't you get bored after a bit?" said Lee slicing open a baked potato.
"Nah," replied George shovelling a forkful of food into his mouth, "you'd think I'd get bored of teasing Percy but I still love it. It's basically the same thing."
"How is that the same th…"
Lee's question remained unasked as at that moment Professor Quirrell burst into the Great Hall and sprinted down the centre of the room. He had a look of pure panic on his face and his held his hand up to his turban that had become lopsided as he scampered towards the teachers table.
Every student followed his journey with unwavering fascination, most had a look of bemusement on their faces while some gave out an occasional nervous laugh.
Quirrell slumped onto the table in front of Dumbledore's chair and gasped for breath, "Troll… in the dungeons… thought you ought to know." He finished the sentence before sinking to the ground as he fainted.
The room exploded into uproar. As students started panicking, their screams and shouts frighten the bats still hanging from the walls and ceiling into launching themselves into flight. The pupils now varied their screams between worrying about the troll and worrying about the bats. Despite the prefects' best efforts to bring the situation under control in the end it took several purple firecrackers exploding from Dumbledore's wand to bring a relative moment of quiet.
"Please remain calm," his voice echoed out reassuringly. "Prefects, lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately."
"Merlin's Beard look at Percy," said Fred lean towards Lee and George, "it's like Christmas has come early for him."
"Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me. I'm a prefect," Percy bellowed leading the Gryffindor first years out of the Great Hall; he was clearly in his element.
"You'd wonder how a Troll got in wouldn't you?" said Lee as the three boys filtered into the crowd of students trying to leave the Great Hall.
"They are stupid at the best of times," admitted George shrugging, "it probably smelt the baked pumpkins, wandered out of the forest into the school and got lost in the dungeons."
"You'd think they'd have something in place to stop stuff like that happening," said Lee thoughtfully.
"Yeah like a fence or something," agreed George.
"A fence wouldn't stop a Troll getting through," advised Fred shaking his head.
"So you're saying they'd probably need a sign?" asked George, "something along the lines of 'stop, this is a school for children not the inhabitants of the Forbidden Forest.'"
"That'll be a pretty big sign," said Fred scratching his chin, "plus you'd have to translate it into all the difference languages. Do Trolls even have their own language?"
"I have no idea," admitted Lee, "we could always ask I suppose."
"Ask the Troll?" Fred turned to his friend with a smile on his face.
"Are you suggesting that against the orders of Dumbledore to return to our dormitories that instead we should head down to the dungeons on the off chance we'll meet a Troll?" asked George looking at his friend.
"Well how many chances are we going to have to see a Troll up close?" replied Lee.
"See? And people always say that it is us who lead you astray," Fred beamed.
Amid the confusion of the situation the three boys managed to detach themselves from the procession of Gryffindor students and fell into line with those heading towards Slytherin House. As they approached a tapestry that they knew had a hidden doorway behind it, the three boys sunk down to their knees and pretended to be tying their shoelaces as they waited for the line of Slytherin students to pass them by.
Free from witnesses they pushed passed the wall-hanging and into the hidden corridor beyond. George led the way as the three boys carefully made their way down to the bottom of a stairwell which let them out in the cold surroundings of the dungeon.
"Where now?" asked Lee looking around in the darkness, the three boys took out their wands and used them to light the way.
"No idea," admitted George, "I left the Marauders' Map in our room."
"Well Slytherin House is that way," said Fred pointing down one of the corridors, "so we'll probably want to stay away from there."
"Good thinking," said Lee as the three of them turned to head in the other direction.
"It's definitely been down here," said George pinching his nose, "that's disgusting."
"Er… actually that was me," said Fred bashfully, "sorry, it was the roasted sprouts."
"We're just lucky there are no candles around," admitted Lee trying to covering his nose with the sleeve of his shirt.
"Oh for Godric-sake, seriously what is wrong with you?" admonished George a few minutes later, jamming his hand over his face.
"Okay, that wasn't me," Fred advised them, this time pinching his own nose, "it's getting worse too."
"I think he's right," said Lee pointing further down the corridor. Up ahead in the dark hallway was an open door, the light from inside the room shone brightly against the wall opposite, a shadow flickered back and forth.
"Looks like this is it," whispered George as the three of them edged their way closer to the light.
"I think that is the boys' toilets," said Lee trying to remember the layout of the dungeons from their Potion lessons.
"We could lock it in," said Fred as they got close enough to see the open door pushed back against the inside wall.
"Worth a try," admitted George.
Before they could get any closer to the door, there was suddenly a loud explosion followed by the sound of a torrent of water splashing hard against the ground.
"ARGHHHH!" a horrific cry came from inside the boys toilets, suddenly a dank foul smelling figure lurched out into the corridor.
"Run for it!" ordered George just before all three of the boys fired off the first spell that came into their heads at the disgusting creature. Not waiting to see if they'd stopped the beast in its tracks the boys turned tail and sprinted back in the direction they came from not pausing until they were back in the hidden passageway that had led them down to the dungeon.
"Merlin's Beard," gasped Lee sinking down to his knees to catch his breath, "that Troll was disgusting."
"I know," agreed George gratefully taking in a large lungful of air, "he smelt worse then Charlie's socks."
"Really? Charlie's socks?" asked Fred breathing hard, "I would have said that was about even."
The boys made their way up the hidden passageway, and peered out from behind the tapestry. Just as they were about to step into the corridor they had to quickly hide again as McGonagall hurried passed once they were sure that no one else was going to be coming by they continued on their journey through the school up to Gryffindor House.
"Pig snout," said George, causing the Fat Lady to slowly open up. A wave of noise passed over them. The Common Room was packed with people; everyone was eating the food from the Halloween feast that had been sent up to them. The boys went and quickly grabbed a plate each and piled food onto them from the various dishes arranged on a table against the wall.
"Where have you three been?" asked Angelina as George squeezed himself onto the arm of her chair.
"Oh nowhere really," said George casually as he balanced his plate with one hand and pick at the food with the fork, "just been fighting the Troll."
"The Troll?" Alicia asked wide-eyed.
"Don't mind them," dismissed Angelina, "they're just kidding."
"Nope, I'm telling the truth," stated George, he looked at Angelina's expression of disbelief, "I know, it's weird, but honestly we fought the Troll down in the dungeons. If you don't believe me ask Lee, he never lies."
"Is it true?" said Angelina turning her focus to Lee.
"Not entirely," admitted Lee, "I tell the odd lie but compared to these two that's nothing."
"No you idiot, I meant about the Troll."
"Oh that, yeah that's true," nodded Lee, "we headed down to the dungeon and ran into it."
"What did you do?" asked Alicia excitedly
"We faced it down like the lions we are," said Fred puffing out his chest.
"You ran away didn't you?" asked Angelina raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, but bravely, like lions," concluded Fred.
"How do you run away bravely?" queried Alicia.
"It's quite difficult," admitted George, "but somehow we managed it."
"So you actually saw the Troll?" enquired Alicia eagerly.
"Yeah," nodded Lee swallowing his mouthful of food, "it was disgusting, and smelt worse then it looked, there was one weird thing though."
"Which was?"
"Well I always thought that Trolls were supposed to be over ten feet tall, but this one was only about six foot at a push."
"Maybe it was only a young Troll," said Alicia thoughtfully.
"Looks like you three weren't the only ones to have got distracted on the way back here," Angelina nodded towards the doorway where Harry Potter and the twins' youngest brother Ron had just stepped through. They were met by the bushy haired and rather bossy first year girl called Hermione and exchanged a few words before they headed to the table with the food. The twins beckoned them over.
"Where have you two been?" George asked them as they managed to slot into a spare spot next to the wall.
"In the girls' toilets," said Ron taking a mouthful of food.
"I always knew you were the weird one in the family," said Fred shaking his head, "which is lucky, because for a long time I suspected it might have been me."
"We fought the Troll; it was in the girls' toilets," explained Harry.
"You fought the Troll as well?" asked Angelina looking pointedly towards the twins, "just how many are there wandering around the school?"
"You can't have fought the Troll," complained Fred shaking his head, "we fought it."
"Oh we definitely did," nodded Ron enthusiastically, "Harry jumped on its back and stuck his wand up its nose, and I knocked it out with its own club. McGonagall herself awarded us five points each."
"Where was this Troll again?" asked Lee his brow crinkled in confusion.
"The girls' toilets on the ground floor," said Harry taking a bite out of a baked potato.
"There is no way it managed to get from the boys' toilets in the dungeons up to the ground floor girls' toilets in such a short space of time," said George thoughtfully tapping his chin with his finger, "maybe there was two after all."
"What did this Troll look like?" Angelina inquired.
"It was horrible," admitted Ron, excited to be the focus of attention, "about twelve feet tall, gray skin, with a huge great lumpy body, stubby legs and a balding head."
"Twelve feet tall? Are you sure?"
"Pretty sure," agreed Harry, "I got quite close to it, and it was definitely that big."
"Well that settles that then," said Angelina looking at the twins triumphantly, "there is no way what you three came across was a Troll."
"I wonder what the hell it could have been?" said Fred frowning.
****
"Ah Minerva," Dumbledore greeted the Deputy Headmistress as she entered his office, "I trust everything is in order."
"Yes Headmaster," she said crossing the room to stand in front of Dumbledore's desk, "the Troll was actually subdued in the girls' toilets by Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter. I awarded them both five points for their efforts, although I advised them of how dangerous their actions were."
"Youthful folly my dear Minerva," smiled Dumbledore, "you should have seen what I got up to in my first year. Hogwarts is a place of learning, and what better way to learn then through our own mistakes. It's probably too late to get everyone back down to the Great Hall so I think we shall leave them to enjoy the feasts in their own Common Rooms."
"Very good Headmaster," nodded McGonagall, "there is one more thing you should know about?"
"And what is that?"
"There was a problem with one of the toilets in the boys' bathroom in the dungeons, it seems the water was backing up and flooding the floor." explained McGonagall, "I believe Peeves may have had a hand in blocking it. I still don't understand why you tolerate him."
"A Hogwarts without Peeves would be like Quidditch without a Snitch, it could work but it just wouldn't be as fun."
"Or as dangerous," countered McGonagall, "anyway, I dispatched Mr Filch to fix the problem and it seems that Peeves managed to get hold of some Ever Exploding Waterproof Fireworks and somehow used them to block to toilet, when Mr Filch was trying to clear the blockage, Peeves set them off."
"Ah… a rather messy outcome I am assuming?"
"Yes," agreed McGonagall, "not only did Filch get covered in… well… I won't say it exactly but I'm sure you can imagine, but it appears Peeves may have followed up with a few hexes. Madam Pompfrey is currently attending to him but I suspect the use of at least the leg-lock curse and a hic-cupping hex."
"Peeves using hexes?" sighed Dumbledore, "so he managed to get hold of another wand did he? Well I suppose we should be grateful that the school is still standing especially after what happened last time. I will have a word with him and ask him to return the wand to its rightful owner."
"Very good, but there is another reason why I informed you about all this."
"Yes?"
"Filch is on his way up to demand that Peeves be kicked out of the school, and I thought I'd better let you know so you could take precautions."
"Such as?"
"A Bubble-Head charm should do the trick," said McGonagall grimly, "he hasn't had a shower yet."
