Dedicated to my lovely beta-reader Szaranea and to
Leandra, of course
*****
It was a rainy evening in November. Fred and
George Weasley, both in their second year at Hogwarts, were sitting next to
their brother Percy, who had fallen asleep over his History of Magic essay in
the Gryffindor common room.
" I'm bored. " muttered George, who was holding
Percy's quill in his hand and trying to add some spelling mistakes into the
essay.
Fred yawned. " Let's consult the Marauder's Map
and look who's in the Astronomy Tower tonight." he suggested.
The twins had soon discovered that the
Astronomy Tower was a popular meeting place for couples. It was most crowded on
Friday and Saturday nights, whereas on Sunday nights it was deserted, because,
according to Fred , " everyone studies for Monday at that time. "
Since the day they'd learned how to use the
Map, it has become a kind of evening ritual, looking who's in the Astronomy
tower that night. Nobody had ever flushed more furiously than Percy, when they
told him they discovered that he had been in the Tower with Penelope Clearwater
one night.
Fred pulled the Map out of his robes and
examined it. Meanwhile, George was trying to dye Percy's hair blue out of
boredom, but it didn't work properly and it became a weird shade of purple
instead. He wanted to correct it, when suddenly he heard his twin mutter , "
This is WEIRD. "
George bent over to Fred who pointed at the
Map. It showed the 4th floor of Hogwarts Castle and right above
Fred's finger there was a dot labeled GBoN. And it was red.
Fred lifted his eye-brows. " What's that
supposed to mean ?" he asked. The Marauder's Map was always written in black,
except for the words at the beginning – Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and
Prongs etc.
" Dunno." George grinned, " We should do a bit
of investigating then, shouldn't we ? "
His brother agreed instantly- " Yeah, let's
go."
They passed the Fat Lady – " Black Ruby !" and
hurried to the 4th floor, wondering if there existed anything like a
black ruby as they're supposed to be red.
" I think it's the room left from the big
picture of the Founders." mused George and pointed at a door. They entered the
room which looked like an old classroom.
" According to the Map, that GBoN should be
exactly…"- Fred looked up and saw a broom cupboard a the corner or the room.
–"…there."
George seized the knob impatiently and pulled
the cupboard open.
It was empty.
" But- there MUST be something… the Map- "
Fred cut his brother off.
"George, this is Hogwarts. Things never
are how you'd believe them to be !"
He bent down and examined the bottom of the
cupboard.
Suddenly there was a faint click and two
board slid aside, revealing a small space beneath them. But that space wasn't
empty. In fact, it contained a wooden box.
Fred wore his special " I told you so."-
expression on his face.
–
" I- …"
–
" –told
you so, I know." George said and rolled his eyes.
" Now let's look what that GBoN is." He took
the box and the boards slid back into their normal position.
The twins looked curiously at the box. It
seemed less like an ordinary box than like some sort of shrine.
"Look, how sweet. Two dogs, kissing each
other !" George said mockingly, looking at the top of the wooden box. But Fred
looked thoughtful.
-" It hasn't got any locks. Open it, George."
George lifted the top and suddenly breathed in
sharply. Fred simply stared.
In the shrine there lay a book. " GBoN- The
Great Book of Nonsense. " Fred whispered reverently.
" Yeah- by Canine Couple – that must be the two
on the top of the shrine…." George added and took the book carefully.
The cover was deep red with a silver print on
it which said :
The Great Book
of Nonsense
-
an Aid to Magical Mischief-Makers
by Canine Couple
Fred
opened the book and he and George looked at the first page. It was blank, but
only for a second. Then, words began to appear:
" Welcome, stranger ! The simple fact that you were able to open this
shrine means that you're a real Mischief-Maker and therefore worth to use this
book. It has been written for people who are eager to fight the dullness and
monotony of everyday life. You will find here ideas and suggestions for
mischief, collected within seven years. Collected and, most of them, invented
by the King and the Queen of Mischief themselves –
Padfoot
&
Silver
aka
Canine Couple
ENjoy !
Fred gasped . "
Padfoot ?!" THE Padfoot ? Hey, that's cool ! But who the hell is Silver ?"
George: " A girl, I
suppose."
- " Could be a guy as well... "
George rolled his
eyes again. " Fred, you prat, think ! Canine Couple,
kissing dogs! It MUST have
been a girl, unless Padfoot was gay !"
- " Right y'are,
bro', I was only jokin' ... "
Fred grinned like a
madman, leafing through the book.
" It's perfect !" he
claimed. " Look at this- Ten Easy Ways How to Annoy the Caretaker Without Being
Accused or Caught. Exactly what we need ! Filch's gonna have a very bad time...
" – his grin became evil.
George agreed. " oh,
yeah, worse than bad... Let's see :
#1 : Bribing Peeves to play the prank –
Good Lord, are they
crazy ? Peeves would love to get us detention, despite
him not liking Filch !"
- " Hang on George-
there's an explanation. You have to pretend that you're the Bloody Baron –
note: Invisibility Cloak recommended – wish we had one. Well Peeves would do
anything the Bloody Baron asks for, that's right..."
- " How to Paint the
Slytherin Common Room Pink – Fred I've always thought the Marauders were
Gryffindors- here's the proof. " George snickered uncontrollably.
Fred looked excited.
" Pink! That's not a bad idea, though... – how do we do that ?"
George read out
loudly, "First, buy a Self-painting paint – available at Zonko's – great, we don't have to look for it very long. Then
you simply use the Teleport Spell on it – preferably at night – and you will be
awoken by Slytherin screams next morning ... "
The twins looked at
each other and then at the book.
" This, " Fred said
solemnly , " is now our most precious possession, well, along with the Marauder's
Map, of course."
" No, not exactly,
Fred. " George told his brother, grinning broadly, " This is the key to our future as the new Kings of
Mischief !"
A/N : So, that would
it be.... if you know a good piece of mischief, let me know ! And please
R&R ! If you wonder who Silver really is – well, hang on, she'll appear in
my next fanfics... be patient....
Silver