Author's Note: Oy, there was a lot of things that needed repairing in this chapter, but I'm happy with it now.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and co. All I own in this chapter is Dr. Lingsworth, but, as you'll see, he's not exactly the most pleasant little bloke to own. Maybe J.K. will give my Harry Potter and co. if I give her him? Nah, I didn't think so.
Chapter 3: Don't Speak Your Mind at Speaker's Corner
"There sure are a lot of flowers here, aren't there?" commented Lee as they walked through the park.
"At least these don't attack you when you walk by," muttered Fred, thinking of the plants in the greenhouses at Hogwarts.
"Yeah, I don't reckon Sprout would like them," replied Lee, glancing over at a small yellow flower. "No venom, puss, or fangs on any of them."
After a while, they came upon a small crowd of people.
"What's this all about?" asked George as they halted at the back of the crowd.
A man in front of him turned and said, "Dr. Lingsworth is giving a speech on how public violence is out of hand these days. One of the most interesting lectures I've heard here at Speaker's Corner in a while, actually. He's quite brilliant, Dr. Lingsworth."
"Oh...erm, right. Love that Dr. Lingsworth!" said Fred enthusiastically. "Um...who's Dr. Lingsworth?" he muttered to George and Lee when the man had turned away from them.
"My guess is, he's that short bloke over there that's talking," said Lee, pointing to the front of the crowd to where a rather small man was speaking.
"...and the rate of robberies and vandalism has simply skyrocketed!" a very short man was said. "It's all these young people nowadays, they're--"
"Excuse me," said George indignantly, causing several people to turn and look at him. "But what have you got against 'young people'?"
Lingsworth regarded George with a rather annoyed look. "Not to mention how rude they've become," he said haughtily to the crowd. "Honestly, it's--"
"Rude?" said Lee incredulously. "Rude is not answering his question, if you ask me," he said, indicating George.
Lingsworth turned to face them again, his face showing that he was quickly growing tired being interrupted.
"Will you kindly stop interrupting me?" he said, through clenched teeth.
"Only if you kindly stop with the 'young people nowadays' rubbish," said Fred, his frustrated tone easily matching Lingsworth's.
"Give me reason to, and I will," replied Lingsworth stiffly, raising his nose into the air. "Honestly, if you three were any ruder than you are now, then I should think you'd break the record for rudeness!"
"Yeah, and if you were an inch taller, then you could pass as a gnome," replied Fred coolly.
"That's enough!" sputtered Lingsworth, his face burning as he seemed to lose what little remained of his patience. "You little hooligans are in no postion to make immature jeers at me."
"Oh, so we're the 'little' ones, are we?" said George, looking pointedly at Lingsworth.
"ENOUGH!" shouted Lingsworth in a rather loud voice for one so small and irritable. He turned back to the crowd, all common sense seeming to vanish from his eyes. "This is exactly what I've been saying!" he yelled, pointing to Fred, George, and Lee. "Are we going to let these young ruffians get away with this?"
"NO!" bellowed the crowd as one.
"Then let us teach them a lesson!" cried Lingsworth.
The crowd roared in approval, but when they turned back to Fred, George, and Lee, it was to see that the three boys were sprinting away.
"AFTER THEM!" yelled Lingsworth, very nearly being trampled by the crowd as they dashed after the boys.
"You know what? I don't reckon that guy should be talking about how to reduce public violence!" gasped George as the crowd closed in behind them.
"What was your first clue?" asked Fred sarcastically.
"I reckon it was the gnome thing that started it, Fred," said Lee as they ran.
"Well, he's hardly taller than Flitwick...who's much nicer, I might add!" said Fred.
"We can't outrun them for long," said Lee, beginning to tire. "Any...ideas?"
"This way!" gasped George, darting into an alley.
Fred and Lee followed. The crowd rounded the corner seconds later, halting abruptly as they entered it. There was no sign of the three boys. The only things that could be seen were the dumpsters from the surrounding buildings and several old newspapers that littered the ground.
"Where are they?" asked a man, staring down the alley to the street on the other side.
"They couldn't have gotten all the way through before we got here, we were right behind them!" said another.
"They must have. Come on!" said Lingsworth, leading the crowd at a run as they ran through the alley and onto the street on the other side.
As soon as they had gone, the lid of one of the dumpsters was thrown open and Fred, George, and Lee climbed out.
"Ugh, yuck!" said Lee, removing a rotting banana peel from his shoulder and tossing it back into the dumpster.
"I've smelled Dungbombs that didn't smell that bad," commented George, waving his hand in front of his face in an effort to clear the air of the smell as they stepped back onto the sidewalk outside of the alley.
"Yeah, well I've smelled Slytherins that smelled better than that, and that's saying something, said Fred as George and Lee nodded vigorously in agreement.
"Let's get as far away from here as we can before that bloke and his friends come back," said Lee wisely. "I wouldn't fancy having to take another dive in a dumpster."
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Yep, I told you that Dr. Lingsworth wasn't the most pleasant little bloke to own! *tosses Lingsworth into a dumpster and slams the lid* Let's see how he likes it!
Response to reviewers:
carlos-s. lover: Good thing they didn't lose your owl, because I don't want any of my characters killed before the story's over, thank you very much! *grins* Don't worry, they won't blow up planet Earth-- *is shoved out of computer chair by Fred, George, and Lee*
Lee: Blow up a planet?
Fred: We've never done that before!
George: Great idea, though, thanks!
*shoves the three of them away* Er...maybe Earth isn't as safe as I thought. :-)
Estenark: I'm glad you liked it! I'm not exactly sure where to send them next, but I have a few ideas...let's just hope they don't do anything...well, anything like they would normally do once they get there! :-)
S.D. Chesko: I know, those girls were pretty thick, huh? Ah, but then again, who could resist the Weasley charm (which I'm sure you know all about! *cough-Rupurt Grint-cough*) As to the comment on J.K. Rowling, I will be her as soon as my Polyjuice Potion is done. *Polyjuice Potion blows up* What the--FRED! GEORGE! LEE! Argh, I shouldn't have left them alone with it! Well, I've got to go see if it can be saved (and hunt myself some redheads and their friend as well!)
Bye for now, and don't forget to review!
