I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.
The Family that Chooses You
Chapter 22 – Explanations of Mischief
Harry was tired.
The last few days have been especially trying on the boy. Between the usual rigors of classes and school work, worrying about Hagrid and his decision to hatch a dragon's egg in his wooden hut, finding a way to smuggle said illegal dragon off school grounds, then staying up late and successfully sending off the dragonling would be reason enough to be tired.
Then he and Hermione and Neville cost their House one hundred and fifty points.
Professor McGonagall had taken the points away for being caught after curfew and assigned them detention. The fact that Draco Malfoy had suffered the same sentence for the same crime was little comfort.
Harry was used to being disliked. He was used to being blamed for things. He could have dealt with the anger and resentment the rest of Gryffindor threw at him.
Hermione and Neville were not. Despite Neville having lost points for doing things wrong in class, and aside from the one time that Hermione lost points during Halloween, neither have been punished like this. Neither have had so many of the students upset at them.
Harry could not blame the others for being upset. Gryffindor had been in the running to win the House Cup, something that had not happened for a long time. Then overnight they were very much at the bottom.
He could blame them for being rude and mean to Hermione and Neville. He figured they might be nicer if they knew why he and Hermione were caught, but then again he knew they would not care.
Thankfully the Gryffindor team had been good to him. Yes they were disappointed at the loss of points but they did not stay upset or angry. They stood by Harry's side, trying to help them ignore the rest of the House. He kept Hermione near; he felt really bad for involving her. She was even quieter these days and did not stray far from Harry's side.
Thankfully Angelina had put aside her feelings towards Hermione, after some begging from Harry. Neville did not gravitate towards Harry or the team, instead growing more quiet and trying to be unobtrusive. Ron had engaged more with the awkward boy and that helped.
This night found Harry and Hermione sitting on a couch together, Angelina next to the former and Katie next to the latter. They worked on homework together with Oliver sitting beside them in a large chair. His easy-going presence, accompanied by Angelina and Katie's looks of hostility, kept most of the House at bay but the mutterings and griping never ceased completely.
Alicia came up, plopping herself down beside Oliver. "Are they here yet?"
"Who?" Katie asked.
"The Twins. They said we should gather here tonight for something important."
"They did?" Angelina frowned. "They didn't mention anything to me about that."
Percy came up to them, squinting slightly. "Sorry to interrupt, but has anyone seen my glasses? I've seemed to have misplaced them."
Harry saw someone walking into the common room from outside. Someone else followed close behind and the pair were carrying a large long roll of parchment between them. He grinned. "I see them right now," he said pointing.
"The Twins?" Alicia asked.
"My glasses?" Percy asked at the same time.
"Yes," Harry replied.
"May we have your attention please?" George said out loud, clearing his voice noisily. Percy's glasses were perched on his nose.
"We promise it will be a very educational experience for all," Fred said.
"Hey! Give those back!" Percy said angrily, noticing his wayward glasses.
"Not yet old chap," George said. "We're giving a presentation and people take you more seriously when you give a presentation if you're wearing glasses."
"Only one of you is though," Alicia observed.
"Then people will only take us half as seriously," Fred said seriously. "Which is usually half as more than usual or just about the same depending on which Professor you speak to but we digress." He coughed importantly and everyone in the room fell silent. "It has come to our attention that there is a bit of a problem as of late. Wait, a question already?" He pointed at Alicia who had held her hand up.
"I'm sorry but I cannot take you seriously right now," she said in a very serious tone.
George held out Percy's glasses and Fred took them and put them on. "How about now?" Fred asked.
"Much better," Alicia said primly and people snickered while Percy groaned in annoyance.
"As I was saying, there seems to be a rather large problem. Now some of you may think it is the sudden loss of one hundred and fifty points to be the problem."
There were murmurs of agreement and dirty looks from most of the House. Neville paled and looked down. Hermione squeaked and tried to burrow into the couch. Harry looked straight ahead.
George took the glasses and put them on. "However, that is not the problem we speak of. In this case, the true problem is the response to the loss of points. In our opinion it is completely disproportionate to the crime."
Langley snorted. "Of course that's your opinion. You're friends with one of the stupid firsties that cost us the points."
"Which is true, no denying that." The twins winked at a very thankful Harry. "However that got us thinking. It is reasonable to be upset at the crime. Within reason of course, but reasonable. However, one should have an appropriate response to the degree of the crime."
Everyone looked blankly at him.
Fred settled the glasses on his nose. "So George and I went to the Library," he waited for the snickering to subside, "and we did a little research. Now, were any of you aware, besides the Prefects of course, that all points taken from a student are in fact on record? These records are open for students to see as long as the crime is not too heinous?"
It was clear that most of the students did not know. They whispered among themselves.
"One of the early Headmasters of Hogwarts thought it would be good to have these records readily available so 'peers can learn from one another'. So my esteemed twin and I decided to do a bit of learning." Fred raised his wand and tapped the roll of parchment. It unfurled slowly and floated in the air. At the top it was emblazoned with "List of Mischief" in glowing red letters. Numbers ran down the side with long black marks running the length of the roll.
Panic and amusement started to run around the room.
"Can, can they do this?" Langley asked, his face nervous.
"This is supposed to be private right?" a seventh year girl asked. She had been one of the worst ones the last few days, saying many nasty things about the three first years.
"He's not wrong," the seventh year male Prefect said. "They are technically public records for all students. The reasons for loss of points have been…edited…as well."
George slipped the glasses on and waved his wand. The black marks started to dissolve, revealing names. "At the bottom of the list we have some pretty petty reasons to lose points such as being late to class. Only a point here and there so nothing particularly noticeable. We did find one Alicia Spinnet for losing five points due to cheek but that can mean anything. So not worth mentioning really."
"Not worth mentioning?!" Alicia looked offended.
Fred put the glasses on. "We mentioned you because you're our friend and even petty losses of points are worth mentioning. Now we move along to the middle of the pack which is held firmly by our three first years here. Now one Neville Longbottom unfortunately has lost more points than the other two due to classroom mishaps but that's why you're here at school, to learn, so that really does not count."
George took over, after making sure the glasses were on. "Hermione Granger however has only lost points one other time. Also, which should be taken into account, she has earned Gryffindor many points due to classroom excellence. As you can see," he tapped the parchment and numbers appeared, "she has earned more than she has lost so really, she's part of the reason we were where we were. So if anyone is allowed to lose points, she is. In fact, we should applaud her for all her hard work this year."
He and Fred applauded. Alica, Oliver, and Harry joined in as well as a few other people including Ron and Lee Jordan. Hermione's face was bright red and she tried to grab Harry's hand to keep him from clapping.
"Harry Potter on the other hand is another special case. He's lost points on a few occasions, mostly from a certain Professor with an unpleasant disposition, but he's earned points with the Quidditch team to easily balance things out. So again, he can lose points if he wants to," Fred continued. "We won't applaud him right now though because he just got some during the second game and we wouldn't want him too used to it."
Harry sniggered, catching the wink from the twins.
George slipped the glasses on and his smile became a hungry thing normally seen on a predator when they cornered their prey. "Which leads us to our point. You see, despite them losing 150 points, they in fact have not lost the most points this year. While their loss is the most at any given one time, if you add up the points over the year, well others stand out."
He waved his wand and Richard Langley's name appeared. "Langley here has lost us considerable points all year. The most common reason being 'failure to complete homework' and 'performing below acceptable standards'. In many classes. Which is rather ironic considering you just called the first years 'stupid'. You see they have a reason, being first years. What's your reason, mister seventh year?"
He stood, hands clenched and face red from anger.
"Oh and there was one other incident, one that cost us almost fifty points in one fell swoop as well. Something about…'investigating a broom cupboard in an indecent manner'." George's grin turned malicious.
Langley sat back down, face pale. Snickers and chuckles were heard after that announcement.
"What does that mean?" Harry asked.
The snickering became laughter and left him even more confused. Angelina tried to shush him, her cheeks turning warm.
George tapped the parchment and Melissa Swanhild appeared. The seventh year girl that spoke earlier turned green.
"Miss Swanhild here has been punished many times for 'attempted dueling'. Looks like she's got a bit of a temper that she tries to work out at wand-point." He shook his head and clicked his tongue. "Tsk tsk. Have you ever tried to work out your aggressions with your words? And I mean words, not spell words."
Melissa started to rise from her chair, her wand coming up.
"Sit down Swanhild," the seventh year Prefect snapped. "Stop proving their point and remember you have no one else to blame."
She sat back down, her face a bright crimson.
"In summation, we think that we should show a bit more House pride." George's voice lost any hint of jocularity. His face was all angles and he looked uncharacteristically serious. "We all make mistakes. Everyone loses points for all sorts of reasons."
Fred took the glasses and his face was identical to George's. "We gave the first years guff and it's done with. Let's let bygones be bygones. If things continue as they do, know that George and I will have no problems returning the favor. In fact, this is how we start. This is also the lightest way we know of going about things. I hope that clears things up."
"Any questions?" the twins asked together.
Harry held up his hand.
"Yes Mister Potter?" Fred asked in his best Snape impression.
Harry pointed at two more black marks on the parchment. "Who are those then?"
"Good eye!" Fred stood to one side and George on the other. "You see, we also wanted to check something and it turns out we were right. While you lot have lost us a lot of points this year, there are two people who have lost the most points if you consider all the years they have been at Hogwarts."
The brothers flourished their wands and Fred and George Weasley appeared on the parchment. The numbers of points lost appeared beside their names and the common room erupted in a riot of noise.
"Now all of you amateurs can see how horribly outclassed you are!" Fred crowed.
"Bow before your Kings of Mischief!" George yelled.
The students jeered and shouted and started to throw rubbish at the grinning twins.
"Yes! Yes! More! Your accolades sustain us!" Fred shouted.
"Your anger! Your indignation! We demand more!" George said, his wand out and flicking away the larger and more dangerous missiles being thrown at them.
Percy clutched his head as if holding it together prevented it from exploding. "Bloody hell, what am I going to do with those two?"
"You know, for third years, they've lost a lot of points," Oliver mused. "Good thing you can't see them right now Percy."
"Thank Merlin for small mercies," Percy agreed.
Hermione did not know if she should look relieved at how no one was giving her ugly looks, embarrassed for being shown how many points she earned despite her loss, or indignant at how the twins were reveling in the attention. Harry was laughing out loud, clapping and cheering for the twins. Angelina was torn between amusement and irritation. Katie was giggling and enjoying the show.
Alicia had risen to her feet and had joined the rest in the House heckling the twins, throwing wads of paper and other things she could.
"Is Alicia that upset?" Harry asked worriedly.
"Nah, she likes to make noise and join in on the fun," Oliver said reassuringly. "Any way for her to join in and not act like a proper lady."
Finally the Prefects broke up the grandstanding and the riot, scattering the students and forcing everyone that took part to clean up the mess. The twins eventually finished and settled down in front of the rest of the team and Hermione.
"Alright there Granger?" George asked with false concern. He snickered as she hid behind an open book, her face bright red.
Fred returned Percy's glasses. "I thought that turned out rather well." He ignored Percy's snort of derision. "We worked hard on that presentation."
"I thought it was brilliant," Harry said with a wide smile. "Thanks for that."
The twins waved their hands, brushing his thanks away.
"We were getting tired of the nonsense," George said.
"Besides, now we have all sorts of information and the best part is we obtained it properly. Speaking of." Fred looked up and his smile was all teeth. "Say Langley, George and I hide in all sorts of broom closets and cupboards around the castle. If you ever want to know of a good one then you can ask us."
"We won't join you in any mind, and our information costs but you might find it worth it," George said while waggling his eyebrows.
Langley ran from the room, chased by ribald laughter from the twins and Oliver.
"I still don't get it," Harry asked. "What's so funny about being punished for investigating a broom cupboard?"
"Well you see Harry-" Fred began.
Angelina clapped her hands around Harry's ears and gave the twins a look that made them recoil. "AbsoLUTEly not!" she almost shouted.
"Don't you two even dare to think of it!" Alicia seethed. Her earlier loud booing could have been misconstrued as gleeful enthusiasm. There was no mistaking how severe she was now; it was not an act. "You either!" she said to a grinning Oliver.
Katie's face was as red as a tomato and she looked away pointedly. Hermione dropped her book slightly, trying to figure out what has gotten everyone worked up now.
Harry pulled Angelina's hands away from his ears. "Will someone please tell me?"
"We'll tell you when you're older," Oliver said laughing.
Harry still did not understand why he and the twins were laughing, or why Angelina and Alicia were upbraiding them. However there were no more dirty looks and ugly mutterings from the other House members so Harry did not mind. He trusted his team implicitly.