Disclaimer: Unfortunately don't own any of the characters or
things like that. J.K. Rowling, the coolest person ever, does.
Please note: No chocolate frogs were harmed during the writing of this chapter… well, apart from a few that looked too scrumptious to pass up.
Chapter Three: Have You an Umbrella?
Sarah awoke the next morning, only to find something soft, wet and slimy licking at her nose. She slowly opened one eye at a time and saw a blur of yellow coloured fluff sitting on her face.
"Oh Custard!" Sarah moaned in disgust. "Ge' off! Can't you find something better for breakfast?" She jerked at the ball of fur, but it was no use. Her pet Puffskein refused to budge. "It's really too early in the morning to be doing this."
Sarah had spent most of last night in the library with Jake and the Weasley twins finishing off the plans for their master prank. And tonight was the night. It had taken them most of the week to get the preparations in order, and tonight at dinner they were going to see the outcome. Butterflies came fluttering to her stomach as she thought of all the million things that could go wrong. "No!" she thought aloud to herself. "Tonight is going to work perfectly." With a huge sigh to calm her nerves, she rolled out of bed and went down to the Hufflepuff common room, with Custard still clinging to her nose.
There was a lot of commotion in the common room, which was quite unusual for this time of morning. "Don't you people ever sleep?" Sarah groaned as she walked up to see what the fuss was about. She had finally yanked the fuzzball from her nose (though Custard wasn't very happy about it), when she noticed everyone was gathered around the notice board. The buzzing of excited chatting became louder, and she faintly heard one of the boys' say, "Well I'm going to try out today. Wouldn't it be great to be Hufflepuff Seeker?"
Sarah stopped in mid step. "Oh, and here I was thinking that it was something important."
Justin Flinch-Fletchedy saw Sarah's look of disgust and shouted from the other side of the room, "Sarah, gonna sign up?"
Sarah gave him a look that said, 'I'm really not in the mood for this nonsense', and went to get changed. And besides, she thought, as if they would ever pick a person as clumsy as me!
After she had breakfast, (and made sure that Custard was properly fed so he wouldn't come looking for an early morning snack again), Sarah quietly made her way down to the kitchens on a last minute errand from Fred and George. She was to meet up with one of the house-elves, Dobby, to check that the supplies were ready. It all seemed in order. Everything was here; all Sarah needed now was the twins to come and put charms on it all so it worked perfectly. That was the deal. Sarah and Jake came up with the ideas, and helped in the preparation – but the Twins got to do the charms. Sarah was a bit skeptical about this, however as they were the professionals, she let them have their way.
Outside of the kitchens, as she was sneaking back to the Hufflepuff common room, she noticed that three others were also sneaking about, trying hard not to be seen. Sarah, thinking that it might have been Malfoy and his two goons, hid behind a statue. She was relieved, however, to find that it was only Harry Potter and his two friends. But instead of getting out from her hiding place, she listened in to what they were saying.
"Ya know, Harry, I'm sure everything is just fine," said the red-headed boy that was obviously the Weasley twins youngest brother.
"I don't know Ron, I still think Harry should tell Professor Dumbledore about this. It seems very odd," a girl with bushy brown hair said. Sarah recognised her as the girl who kept trying to get her to join S.P.E.W.
Harry stopped. "Snuffles said that things are beginning to get bad, but I'm sure this will just pass."
Sarah could tell that the girl didn't seem convinced. "All right. But promise me Harry, if things get worse…"
"Ok, Hermione. I promise I'll tell Dumbledore."
The three Gryffindors walked out of sight, leaving Sarah with two questions. What was going on, and who was Snuffles?
For the rest of the day, nerves ran high. That evening before dinner, Sarah and Jake were standing outside the entrance to the Great Hall waiting for Fred and George to arrive. When they finally did, they were met by a frowning Hufflepuff.
"You're late!" Sarah snapped.
"Sorry, just wanted to make sure everything was in order," George whispered as they passed a few first years.
All four went in and sat at their tables. After patting her pocket to make sure her Puffskein, Custard, was still safe, Sarah looked around nervously. At the Head Table, all the staff was seated, awaiting their meal. Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore were talking in hushed voices, obviously not letting the other staff in on their discussion. The butterflies that were swarming around in her stomach earlier that day had just turned into dragons jumping up and down merrily. Oh boy were they in for a shock.
"Albus," said a very annoyed Professor McGonagall, "I know the Weasley Twins are up to something. The have been spending most of their time in the library and I even caught them snooping around the kitchens!"
"Minerva, I'm sure there is nothing to be concerned about. They are probably just having a little fun." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he gave a comforting smile. "By the way, have you an umbrella?"
Professor McGonagall looked at him curiously. At that moment, a chocolate frog dropped onto her golden plate and began hopping about the table. Another dropped into Professor Snape's greasy hair. A loud rumble was coming from the ceiling and before anybody could make any sense of what was happening, hundreds of chocolate frogs were diving from above and jumping from table to table, occasionally getting tangled in someone's robe or hair. Laughter erupted from everywhere, as the students got up from their seats to flick the frogs off them.
McGonagall looked across at Dumbledore, who was holding an umbrella above his head. "I suppose this is the twins doing?"
Dumbledore chuckled. "Not just the twins. A Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were involved also."
"And you knew about this the entire time?" She gave him a threatening glare. "Next time Albus, please tell me when our school is going to be taken over by chocolate frogs."
Dumbledore, who was still smiling, looked down at the Hufflepuff table at Sarah, who was very pleased with herself. Feeling a pair of eyes on her, she glanced up and Dumbledore gave a nod of approval. Then winked. From the Gryffindor table, Sarah heard Fred and George yell, "Food fight!" And she watched as that night's dinner was being flung from one side of the room to the other. Sarah didn't, however, notice that while this was going on, her pet Puffskein had rolled out of her pocket in search of food. When she felt that the lump was gone, Sarah searched around in a panic.
"Custard! Where are you?"
Just then, someone flicked real custard at her, and it dripping down her face and onto her robe.
"Ha, ha! Very funny!" Sarah said sarcastically, and looked up to see who had made the mess. "JAKE!"
"Well, you asked for it!" Jake dodged a piece of chicken that was thrown at him by a fellow Ravenclaw. "This seems to have gone well."
"No it hasn't. I've lost Custard – my Puffskein!"
"Where did you put it last?"
"He was in my pocket, but he must've gotten out when the frogs started to fall."
Sarah scanned the Hufflepuff table, and saw in the fruit bowl, a small ball of yellow fluff. Problem was, at that very moment someone had picked it up to toss at someone else. "Uh oh!"
She leaped up onto the table, and skidded along the shiny wooden surface, but it was too late. Custard was thrown so high into the air that it nearly hit one of the floating candles. Sarah got up as fast as she could, knocking plates of food onto people's laps, and jumped off the end of the high table. She caught the small ball in her hand and fell to the floor with a "Omf!"
Jake ran to help her up. "Are you all right?"
"A bit winded," she managed to get out, "but I think I'll live. Custard must have gotten the fright of his life though."
Justin came over to Sarah and patted her on the back. "Guess what? I've found Hufflepuffs new Seeker!"
Sarah looked at him confused. "Who?"
"You!"
Please, please, please review (gives reader a big cheesy grin) ;)
Please note: No chocolate frogs were harmed during the writing of this chapter… well, apart from a few that looked too scrumptious to pass up.
Chapter Three: Have You an Umbrella?
Sarah awoke the next morning, only to find something soft, wet and slimy licking at her nose. She slowly opened one eye at a time and saw a blur of yellow coloured fluff sitting on her face.
"Oh Custard!" Sarah moaned in disgust. "Ge' off! Can't you find something better for breakfast?" She jerked at the ball of fur, but it was no use. Her pet Puffskein refused to budge. "It's really too early in the morning to be doing this."
Sarah had spent most of last night in the library with Jake and the Weasley twins finishing off the plans for their master prank. And tonight was the night. It had taken them most of the week to get the preparations in order, and tonight at dinner they were going to see the outcome. Butterflies came fluttering to her stomach as she thought of all the million things that could go wrong. "No!" she thought aloud to herself. "Tonight is going to work perfectly." With a huge sigh to calm her nerves, she rolled out of bed and went down to the Hufflepuff common room, with Custard still clinging to her nose.
There was a lot of commotion in the common room, which was quite unusual for this time of morning. "Don't you people ever sleep?" Sarah groaned as she walked up to see what the fuss was about. She had finally yanked the fuzzball from her nose (though Custard wasn't very happy about it), when she noticed everyone was gathered around the notice board. The buzzing of excited chatting became louder, and she faintly heard one of the boys' say, "Well I'm going to try out today. Wouldn't it be great to be Hufflepuff Seeker?"
Sarah stopped in mid step. "Oh, and here I was thinking that it was something important."
Justin Flinch-Fletchedy saw Sarah's look of disgust and shouted from the other side of the room, "Sarah, gonna sign up?"
Sarah gave him a look that said, 'I'm really not in the mood for this nonsense', and went to get changed. And besides, she thought, as if they would ever pick a person as clumsy as me!
After she had breakfast, (and made sure that Custard was properly fed so he wouldn't come looking for an early morning snack again), Sarah quietly made her way down to the kitchens on a last minute errand from Fred and George. She was to meet up with one of the house-elves, Dobby, to check that the supplies were ready. It all seemed in order. Everything was here; all Sarah needed now was the twins to come and put charms on it all so it worked perfectly. That was the deal. Sarah and Jake came up with the ideas, and helped in the preparation – but the Twins got to do the charms. Sarah was a bit skeptical about this, however as they were the professionals, she let them have their way.
Outside of the kitchens, as she was sneaking back to the Hufflepuff common room, she noticed that three others were also sneaking about, trying hard not to be seen. Sarah, thinking that it might have been Malfoy and his two goons, hid behind a statue. She was relieved, however, to find that it was only Harry Potter and his two friends. But instead of getting out from her hiding place, she listened in to what they were saying.
"Ya know, Harry, I'm sure everything is just fine," said the red-headed boy that was obviously the Weasley twins youngest brother.
"I don't know Ron, I still think Harry should tell Professor Dumbledore about this. It seems very odd," a girl with bushy brown hair said. Sarah recognised her as the girl who kept trying to get her to join S.P.E.W.
Harry stopped. "Snuffles said that things are beginning to get bad, but I'm sure this will just pass."
Sarah could tell that the girl didn't seem convinced. "All right. But promise me Harry, if things get worse…"
"Ok, Hermione. I promise I'll tell Dumbledore."
The three Gryffindors walked out of sight, leaving Sarah with two questions. What was going on, and who was Snuffles?
For the rest of the day, nerves ran high. That evening before dinner, Sarah and Jake were standing outside the entrance to the Great Hall waiting for Fred and George to arrive. When they finally did, they were met by a frowning Hufflepuff.
"You're late!" Sarah snapped.
"Sorry, just wanted to make sure everything was in order," George whispered as they passed a few first years.
All four went in and sat at their tables. After patting her pocket to make sure her Puffskein, Custard, was still safe, Sarah looked around nervously. At the Head Table, all the staff was seated, awaiting their meal. Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore were talking in hushed voices, obviously not letting the other staff in on their discussion. The butterflies that were swarming around in her stomach earlier that day had just turned into dragons jumping up and down merrily. Oh boy were they in for a shock.
"Albus," said a very annoyed Professor McGonagall, "I know the Weasley Twins are up to something. The have been spending most of their time in the library and I even caught them snooping around the kitchens!"
"Minerva, I'm sure there is nothing to be concerned about. They are probably just having a little fun." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he gave a comforting smile. "By the way, have you an umbrella?"
Professor McGonagall looked at him curiously. At that moment, a chocolate frog dropped onto her golden plate and began hopping about the table. Another dropped into Professor Snape's greasy hair. A loud rumble was coming from the ceiling and before anybody could make any sense of what was happening, hundreds of chocolate frogs were diving from above and jumping from table to table, occasionally getting tangled in someone's robe or hair. Laughter erupted from everywhere, as the students got up from their seats to flick the frogs off them.
McGonagall looked across at Dumbledore, who was holding an umbrella above his head. "I suppose this is the twins doing?"
Dumbledore chuckled. "Not just the twins. A Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were involved also."
"And you knew about this the entire time?" She gave him a threatening glare. "Next time Albus, please tell me when our school is going to be taken over by chocolate frogs."
Dumbledore, who was still smiling, looked down at the Hufflepuff table at Sarah, who was very pleased with herself. Feeling a pair of eyes on her, she glanced up and Dumbledore gave a nod of approval. Then winked. From the Gryffindor table, Sarah heard Fred and George yell, "Food fight!" And she watched as that night's dinner was being flung from one side of the room to the other. Sarah didn't, however, notice that while this was going on, her pet Puffskein had rolled out of her pocket in search of food. When she felt that the lump was gone, Sarah searched around in a panic.
"Custard! Where are you?"
Just then, someone flicked real custard at her, and it dripping down her face and onto her robe.
"Ha, ha! Very funny!" Sarah said sarcastically, and looked up to see who had made the mess. "JAKE!"
"Well, you asked for it!" Jake dodged a piece of chicken that was thrown at him by a fellow Ravenclaw. "This seems to have gone well."
"No it hasn't. I've lost Custard – my Puffskein!"
"Where did you put it last?"
"He was in my pocket, but he must've gotten out when the frogs started to fall."
Sarah scanned the Hufflepuff table, and saw in the fruit bowl, a small ball of yellow fluff. Problem was, at that very moment someone had picked it up to toss at someone else. "Uh oh!"
She leaped up onto the table, and skidded along the shiny wooden surface, but it was too late. Custard was thrown so high into the air that it nearly hit one of the floating candles. Sarah got up as fast as she could, knocking plates of food onto people's laps, and jumped off the end of the high table. She caught the small ball in her hand and fell to the floor with a "Omf!"
Jake ran to help her up. "Are you all right?"
"A bit winded," she managed to get out, "but I think I'll live. Custard must have gotten the fright of his life though."
Justin came over to Sarah and patted her on the back. "Guess what? I've found Hufflepuffs new Seeker!"
Sarah looked at him confused. "Who?"
"You!"
Please, please, please review (gives reader a big cheesy grin) ;)