Chapter 3
¡§Awww, you make me sick, George.¡¨ Hermione moaned one day at lunch. George Weasley was trying to eat his spaghetti like a dog by burying his face
in the overflowing bowl.
¡§Wa di yaws ay?¡¨ George looked up. It was disgusting. Bits of spaghetti was stuck in his mouth and nostrils, and his face was orange from the sauce
¡§I said you make me sick.¡¨
¡§Oh, Hermione. We¡¦re just trying to cheer you up.¡¨ said Fred cheerfully, and he plunged his face into his bowl.
¡§Definitely,¡¨ grinned Charlie. He followed suit.
¡§Count me in,¡¨ said Bill, and he too put his head into his bowl.
¡§Hey, me too.¡¨ Ron laughed, and made a great show of holding his breath and diving into his spaghetti.
¡§You are all acting very childish, you know.¡¨ Percy complained.
¡§C¡¦mon, Perce, don¡¦t be a spoilsport!¡¨ said Bill. Without looking up, he put his hand on Percy¡¦s head and forced it into his bowl.
¡§So much for brothers,¡¨ Ginny muttered.
¡§WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU BOYS ARE DOING!?¡¨ It was Mrs. Weasley. The Weasley boys all looked up with orange faces.
¡§We are just trying to cheer Hermione up, Mum.¡¨ said George innocently.
¡§Yeah, she really needs some cheering up, Mum.¡¨ Fred chimed in.
¡§THEN YIU THINK OF ANOTHER WAY OF CHEERING HER UP, INSTEAD OF PUTTING YOUR STUPID FACES INTO YOUR LUNCH!¡¨
¡§Okay, Mum,¡¨ said Bill nervously. ¡§Cool down!¡¨
¡§I THOUGHT YOU AND CHARLIE ARE BIG ENOUGH TO ACT YOUR AGE! I WAS WRONG THEN! DE-GOMNE THE GARDEN AS YOUR PUNISHMENT!¡¨
Hermione, Harry and Ginny finished their lunch in silence and sneaked out of the kitchen, sniggering all the way. Then Harry came up with a suggestion of having a broom-flying contest. The other two girls agreed and went to get their brooms; they were outside in no time.
¡§Okay, this is what we have to do,¡¨ Ginny instructed. ¡§We can do laps around the house and keep my git brothers company.¡¨ They took out their brooms and mounted them. Hermione had a little trouble because the Lightningbolt kept squeaking and rocketing around in excitement.
¡§Okay, ten laps around the house, that include dodging the gnomes.¡¨ Harry said. ¡§After that, stop and we¡¦ll see who is the fastest. Ready?¡¨ The girls nodded. ¡§Three¡Ktwo¡Kone¡KGO!¡¨ and they were off.
Firebolts were certainly excellent flying-brooms, but the Lightningbolt was absolutely perfect. When Harry and Ginny were still doing the second lap, Hermione was already doing her sixth lap. The Weasley boys had already forgotten their punishment, even Crookshanks and the gnomes were gazing up at the blur in the air that was Hermione flying.
¡§Wow, can I have a try?¡¨ Ron asked immediately as Hermione jumped gracefully onto the ground.
¡§Go on,¡¨ Hermione said. Ron tried to climb onto the rocketing broom, but the Lightningbolt gave a loud angry squeak and flung the red-head down onto the ground.
Fred sniggered. ¡§Ronniekins, the Lightningbolt seems to let good fliers to use it only. Move over and let me try.¡¨ Ron inched from the squealing broomstick. Fred ceased it harshly and jumped onto it. But before his buttocks could touch it, the Lightningbolt squirmed out of his hands and flew behind Hermione, squeaking in anger.
¡§This is strange,¡¨ said Charlie thoughtfully. ¡§The Lightningbolt looked as if it had a mind of his own. Here, lemme try.¡¨ Hermione moved out of his way and let him approached the shaking broom slowly. His hand shot out and grasped the broom. But before he could do anything more, the Lightningbolt twisted out of his hand, flew behind him and whacked him on the buttocks. Charlie was immediately lying facedown in the dirt. Bending its ¡§head¡¨ rapidly and squeaking loudly, the broom was laughing at Charlie. Hermione strode over to the broom and said sternly,
¡§That¡¦s not funny, Squeak!¡¨ She was very much like Mrs. Weasley when she did that. Squeak stopped laughing and hung its ¡§head¡¨ as if it was ashamed. ¡§One more time of that and you are going to sweep rubbish for the rest of your life, understand?¡¨ Squeak nodded a few times and stayed silent.
¡§Hermione, it understands you!¡¨ Bill exclaimed.
¡§So you decided to name him Squeak?¡¨ George sniggered.
¡§I figured that the maker of the Lightningbolt must have out a living-charm on Squeak.¡¨
¡§A living-charm?¡¨ Fred rubbed his chins thoughtfully. ¡§Sounds appealing.¡¨
¡§Do you know it?¡¨ Ginny asked excitedly.
¡§Of course.¡¨ Hermione said. ¡§Want me to show you? It¡¦s pretty easy.¡¨ It was a few minutes before all the boys got their Firebolts out, then Hermione taught them the incantation.
¡§While you are saying it, make sure that you twirl your wand fully round your broom. After that, the broom will only listen to the person who cast the charm. No one else will be able to get near it ever again, so you don¡¦t need to worry about the Slytherins sabotaging your brooms before your Quidditch game.¡¨
In a short period of time, all the Firebolts were clustering around Squeak, which was seemingly agreed as the leader of the group.
¡§Mine is Gred.¡¨ said Fred proudly.
¡§And mine is Forge.¡¨ George said.
In no time at all, the brooms were de-gnoming the garden, whacking the poor gnomes this way and that. Hermione was dozing on the grass when suddenly a large barn owl flew to her side and hooted loudly. Hermione looked up and found herself staring up into the eyes of a school owl
¡§What is it, Hermie?¡¨ Ron asked as he yawned in a very uncivilized way.
¡§Ewwwwwwww,¡¨ Hermione breathed.
¡§What¡¦s wrong?¡¨ Harry asked.
¡§What¡¦s wrong? What¡¦s wrong! I¡¦M HEAD GIRL! THAT¡¦S WHAT¡¦S WRONG!¡¨
¡§Congratulations, Hermione Granger!¡¨ Percy sprang up and hugged her. ¡§I just knew that you will take up my mantle!¡¨
¡§Shove off, Perce.¡¨ Charlie teased. ¡§At least she does not sing in the shower.¡¨
¡§Are you saying that I sing in my showers?¡¨
¡§Yeah, off-key.¡¨ Ron grinned.
¡§Do not!¡¨
¡§We¡¦ll see,¡¨ Ginny said mischievously. ¡§Anyway, congrats, Hermie. And it proves that, Gryffindor, again, wins! GRYFFINDOR FOREVER!¡¨
¡§GRIFFINDOR FOREVER!¡¨
End of chapter
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