Chapter Four: The Brother and the Seeker
"Is it true?" Lee Jordan asked. "Harry Potter's really on the train?"
"Yep," said Fred. "George and me helped him with his luggage. Saw his scar up close."
"Freaky," said Lee. "What's he like?"
"Bit shy, really," said George, stowing his trunk. "I don't think he knows how famous he is yet."
"Yeah," said Fred. "I heard he grew up with Muggles, too. Weird."
"He's hanging out with Ron, of all people," said George, rolling his eyes.
The compartment door slid open, and Angelina Johnson strode in. She grinned at Fred and he lit up at once.
"Hey, Angie," he said, getting up and giving her a quick hug and a clap on the shoulder.
"Wotcher, Fred," she said. She stepped back from his embrace and gave George a quick hug.
"Hiya, Angie," said Lee, grinning at her.
"Hey," said Fred. "Only I get to call her Angie. Right, Angie?"
"Right, Freddie," she said, winking at him. Fred blushed and slapped George on the shoulder when George sniggered at him.
"Fine," said Lee. "AngeLINA. You look nice."
Angelina rolled her eyes. She had grown used to Lee's flirtatiousness; he'd had a crush on her for ages. Fred was pleased that she'd never seemed to reciprocate that crush.
"Thanks," said Angelina, sitting down next to Fred. Fred got a good look at her. She DID look nice. She had gotten a bit taller and her hair was done in what had to be thousands of tiny braids that reached just to her chin. Her skin looked a bit darker, more coffee than cream. She'd mentioned in one of her letters that she was going to the West Indies with her parents for part of the summer. Wherever that was. Someplace tropical. Apparently she had relatives over there. Her teeth were perfect as ever and Fred couldn't help but notice that she had grown in a few other areas as well. His neck felt hot and he looked away.
"So, Angelina, this is Butch," Lee was saying, and he opened the cage.
"Cool!" she said. "Can I hold him?"
"Of course," Lee said, winking. Angelina reached into the cage and withdrew the spider, which was the size of a Bludger. It was hairy and horrible looking and had lots of beady little eyes. Angelina set it on her lap and stroked its back with her finger.
"Wow," she said. "Did you use an Engorgement Charm on him?"
Fred couldn't help but be impressed with her. Most girls--and some boys (Ron included)--would freak out about such a huge spider. Fred couldn't imagine too many people willing to hold a spider that big and pet it. But Angelina was pretty much fearless about bugs and spiders and other creepy crawlies. The only aversion she seemed to have was to slugs.
"Yeah," said Lee, "but I'll have to shrink him once we get to school. McGonagall will do her nut if she sees him that big."
"He's definitely impressive," said Angelina, picking the spider up gently and putting him back in the cage.
The compartment door slid open again and Alicia Spinnet strode in, but gave a little scream when she saw the spider in the cage.
"Ew!" she cried.
"Wanna hold him, Alicia?" said Lee, grinning a bit madly.
"Gross!" she cried. "George, that's disgusting, how can you share a compartment with THAT?"
"Come on, Alicia, you're hurting Butch's feelings," said Lee, pouting.
"Are you coming in or not, 'Liss?" George asked.
"I don't know," said Alicia, eyeing Butch warily.
"Come on, " said George, rolling his eyes. "In or out."
"In," she said reluctantly. "But keep that animal away from me, okay? And close that cage, would you?"
"You bet," said Lee, grinning. Alicia came in but the look on her face suggested that she didn't believe Lee for a second. She sat down next to George and pressed her back against the wall, putting as much distance between herself and Butch as possible.
"Did you hear?" she said, her eyes darting to Butch every few seconds. "Harry Potter's on the train."
"Way ahead of you there, Alicia," said Fred. "We saw him. WE even helped him with his luggage."
"Wow," said Angelina. "What's he like, anyway? I heard he lives with Muggles."
"He's sort of quiet," said George. "Seems normal enough. Well, except for the fact that when last we saw him he was hanging round with Ron."
"Yeah, that doesn't say much for his taste in people, does it?" agreed Fred. "But at least he's not hanging out with Percy."
"Ickle Percy the Prefect," George said, scowling.
"We'd better be careful this year," said Lee. "Your brother'll be owling your mum every other day about you."
"Bugger that," said Fred. "I'm not gonna let Percy get in the way of my fun, thank you very much. And anyway, he's got his own set of distractions."
"Oh yeah?" said Angelina, arching her eyebrows.
"Yeah," said George, grinning. "Fred and me aren't positive but we think he fancies that Ravenclaw prefect."
"Penelope Clearwater," said Fred.
"Sounds like a match made in heaven," said Lee dryly. "Oops, Butch is getting hungry."
Lee set the closed cage down and reached into his bag, then pulled from it a tiny, dead gray mouse. He opened the cage and dangled the mouse above it; Butch the Tarantula lifted himself up on his four back legs, gazing at the mouse eagerly with his two dozen or so beady eyes.
"Oh, YUCK!" cried Alicia. "You're not going to feed him THAT."
"Course I am," said Lee. "This is what Butch eats." He dropped the mouse into the cage, and Butch fell on it. Sickening crunching sounds came a moment later.
"Gross," said Alicia, covering her face with her hands.
Angelina giggled. "It's just nature in action. Well, sort of. I mean, spiders don't usually grow that big, do they?"
Fred laughed weakly and felt slightly sick, not that he was going to admit this, especially since Angelina seemed to be completely unfazed by the nasty sounds coming from Butch's cage.
Lee grinned and set Butch's cage on the floor, sliding it under the seats. Fred was grateful; Butch was cool but Fred didn't really want to SEE the remains of dead mouse that were surely now littering the cage.
Just then, the food trolley came by.
"Afternoon, dears," said the kindly witch pushing the cart. "Anything from the trolley?"
Fred immediately forgot about the unpleasantness in Butch's cage and felt his stumble rumble. He bit back a frustrated sigh. He had a little money but he knew he couldn't afford to blow it on sweets. No, he was stuck with his mother's corned beef sandwiches, which she'd hastily prepared that morning.
"Yeah," said Angelina, and she proceeded to buy rather a lot of sweets, including several Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Pasties, Chocolate Frogs and a few cartons of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.
"You're going to eat all that?" said George, impressed.
"No," said Angelina. "I'm sharing it with Fred."
Fred's face lit up. "Cool! Thanks, Angie."
"Hey!" said George indignantly. "How come I don't get any? And don't give me that crap about 'you're the Special Twin.'"
"I want some, too!" said Lee, pouting again.
"Get your own, Lee," said Angelina pointedly.
"Fine," said Lee, and he proceeded to buy as many sweets as Angelina. "And I'm eating every last one!" He grinned and shoved a Cauldron Cake greedily into his mouth.
Alicia, meanwhile, purchased a generous, if somewhat smaller amount of sweets.
"I'll share with you, Georgie," she said, smiling sweetly. George flushed bright red and Fred sniggered.
They all paid the witch and she toddled off; for several minutes there was no conversation, only the unwrapping and eating of sweets. Alicia, George and Lee all seemed to congregate together over their sweets, leaving Fred and Angelina to themselves.
Angelina opened a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and pulled a putrid, pale gray bean out.
"This doesn't look promising," she said, then grinned at Fred. She bit a tiny piece of the bean.
"Ugh!" she cried. "I think that's lint flavoured."
Fred grabbed a handful of beans and popped a sickly green one in his mouth.
"Yuck!" he said at once. "Pea soup. I HATE pea soup."
"Brussels sprouts," said Angelina, screwing up her face at the second bean she'd tasted.
"Strawberry," said Fred happily. "That's more like it. But this one looks disgusting. Here, you eat it." He tossed the bean at her and it bopped her on the nose. She caught it in her hand before it fell to the floor.
"I'm not eating this," she said. "You eat it." And she threw it back at him, where it hit him on the forehead.
"You eat it!" he said, laughing, throwing it back at her, but his aim went wide and the bean popped against the back of an empty seat.
"No, you!" cried Angelina, now giggling madly. She grabbed a handful of beans and chucked them at Fred.
"Hey!" He threw his handful of beans at her.
"FOOD FIGHT!" Lee Jordan screeched, and within seconds the compartment was in chaos, sweets flying in every direction. Alicia got hit in the forehead with a Cauldron Cake; it didn't hurt her at all but it did leave a huge bit of icing smeared in her hair. Chocolate Frogs began to leap out of their boxes; one settled in Fred's hair. Angelina took a Pumpkin Pasty to the shoulder; it landed wetly on her robes and left a gooey mark there. And all the while were shouts and screams and giggles. Butch the Tarantula was in an uproar, snatching at falling bits of sweets with his hairy pincers as they landed just outside his wire cage.
"WHAT IS GOING ON?"
The sound of the new voice caused the food fight to end as abruptly as it started.
Fred, who was now covered in sweets, looked up to see Percy standing in the door, with Penelope Clearwater. Penelope had a look of surprise on her face, but Percy looked positively disgusted.
Fred glanced at George, and they both grinned.
"Hiya, Percy," said Fred jauntily. "Care for some sweets?"
"I've got a Pumpkin Pasty right here," said George. "Or, a bit of one, anyway." He peeled a piece of Pumpkin Pasty from his face and held it out.
"Not even at school yet and you two are acting like--like IDIOTS," said Percy angrily.
"Oh, come ON, Percy, it's just a bit of fun," said Fred, annoyed.
"Your bit of fun has created a mess," Percy snapped. "I'm giving both of you detention."
"WHAT?!" Fred and George yelled, and they both stood up angrily.
"You can't do that!" Fred protested.
"I just did," said Percy hotly.
"That's totally unfair!" said George.
"Fine, detention for EVERYONE!" Percy yelled. "Happy now, Fred, George? But since I'm feeling generous I won't owl Mum about this. In the meantime, clean up this mess. And Lee, shrink that spider down to its normal size."
"You can't boss us--" George began.
"Watch me," said Percy. "Or shall I go ahead and owl mum and let her send you ten Howlers before term even starts?"
Fred opened his mouth to speak, then stopped. It was already his and George's fault that Lee, Alicia and Angelina had detention. He didn't want to get them--especially Angelina--in any more trouble.
"Fine," Fred said instead, through gritted teeth. "Now could you please LEAVE so we can clean up?"
Percy glared at Fred, then at George.
"I'm warning you both," said Percy. "No funny business this year. Mum and Dad have enough to deal with without you two causing problems." He turned to the girl at his side. "Let's go, Penny."
Penelope--who hadn't said a word--merely nodded and followed Percy down the length of the train car.
"Git," said Fred, slamming the compartment door.
"Has he always been like that?" said Angelina.
"Pretty much," said Fred bitterly. "Only now he's worse. Now he's a PREFECT."
George made a gagging noise. "Bloody insufferable wanker," he said angrily.
"Shit," said Fred. "We're sorry. Now you three have detention, too."
"Ah, I don't care, mate," said Lee. "Detention is never really as bad as all that."
"I don't care, either," said Angelina.
George turned to Alicia.
"Well," she said slowly. "I'm not thrilled about it but I WAS participating, so I can't really get upset, can I?"
George grinned. "That's the spirit, 'Liss. You've never had detention before, have you?"
She shook her head.
"Welcome to the club, then," said Fred, grinning. "Everyone has had at least ONE detention during their time at Hogwarts."
"Except Percy," said George. "And look how he's turned out."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
School started out well enough for Fred. He'd served his detention, and another (for helping Lee set Butch loose on a few Slytherins while on the train). He wasn't thrilled about his lesson schedule, either. Snape was as horrible as ever. McGonagall was no less strict (although Fred knew that she secretly was quite fond of the him and George, she never showed them any favoritism or let them get away with anything). The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was a bit of a joke. He was new--it seemed that nobody could hold onto that post for more than a year--and his name was Professor Quirrell. He had a fairly bad stutter, always looked as though he wanted to bolt from a room in terror, and he wore a strange purple turban that smelled faintly of garlic. The rumor was that Quirrell had come into contact with a vampire somewhere, and it had scared him silly. In any case, he wasn't much use as a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
The biggest problem with this school year, as far as Fred was concerned, was the Quidditch team. Gerald Prewitt and Michael Marchbanks had both finished school last term. It was relatively easy to replace Marchbanks; they found a capable Chaser at the Quidditch try-outs, a second-year girl named Katie Bell. But finding a Seeker was proving to be impossible. Nobody had the right combination of speed, agility, and quickness (not to mention the eye) to find the Snitch. It bothered Fred no end that the Gryffindors hadn't won the Quidditch Cup since Charlie had left. But who could possibly be as good a Seeker as Charlie?
But if Fred was disgruntled about Gryffindor's Quidditch problems, Oliver Wood was both livid and obsessed. He'd played Keeper for the team since his second year--the year after Charlie left--and Gryffindor hadn't yet won the cup. Wood's single obsession was to win the Quidditch Cup before he left school. Now that he was in his fifth year he was starting to panic about it.
The problem of the Seeker was solved, however, in the most unlikely of circumstances. Fred only learned the details later, but one evening when he and George arrived at Quidditch practice (late, because they were serving detention for having jinxed the toilet seats in the boy's bathroom to start singing), Fred got the shock of his life.
Sitting in the Quidditch tent, outfitted in gear and carrying a magnificent Nimbus 2000 broom, was none other than Harry Potter.
It was rare that anything could render Fred (or George) speechless, but seeing Harry Potter--famous Harry Potter, and only a first-year, at that-- sitting there in Gryffindor Quidditch robes and holding the latest Nimbus (the best broom in the world) was one such thing.
"Hey," said Wood briskly. "This is our new Seeker. I think you know him by now."
"H-hi," said Harry. He looked very nervous, and very small and skinny. Fred wondered just how this kid planned to stay on his broom at all--he couldn't weigh more than 80 pounds. But Fred smiled at Harry nonetheless and sat down as Wood continued to drone on about strategy.
After just two minutes of this Fred tuned out. He never did pay much attention to Wood's painfully long strategy sessions. What, after all, did he need to pay attention for? He was a Beater; his job was to make sure Bludgers didn't knock his teammates off their brooms. Strategy was for the Chasers.
Fred's eyes wandered over to Angelina. She looked bored, but she appeared to be making an effort to absorb what Wood was saying. She turned and glanced at Fred and smiled. He smiled back. He let his eyes rest on her as Wood yammered on about Sloth Grip Rolls. Fred liked looking at Angelina.
"All right, let's go," said Wood sharply. His voice snapped Fred out of his reverie, and he and George followed the rest of the team out of the tent and onto the pitch. Angelina came to Fred's side.
"Can you believe it?" she whispered. "Harry Potter, a Seeker?"
"Yeah, how'd that happen, anyway?" Fred whispered back.
"McGonagall," said Angelina. "Apparently she saw him flying during the first-years flying lesson. Said he was a natural. Better than Charlie, even."
"Nobody's better than Charlie," Fred said defensively.
"I'm just saying what SHE said," said Angelina. "I know Charlie's the best."
She grinned at Fred and he grinned back. A loyal friend, was Angelina.
But once Fred was in the air and saw Harry fly, he realized McGonagall had a point. Harry flew astoundingly well; he had a natural affinity for his broom, he wasn't afraid to try risky moves, and he had fantastic reflexes.
True, Harry's broom was far better than Charlie's, so he was able to fly faster. Then there was the fact that Harry was small; it gave him an advantage in terms of quickness, agility, and in making sharp and difficult turns. Charlie had overcome his own rather large build and his old broom and had become something of a legend at the school.
Still, Fred could tell Harry was, indeed, a natural. All the more incredible considering the kid hadn't even flown at all until he came to Hogwarts (this Fred had learned from Ron).
The practice ended three hours later; all of them were sweaty and exhausted, but Fred had to admit he was impressed, not only with Harry's flying but with the cohesiveness of the team as a whole. They might just win the bloody Cup this year after all.
"Is it true?" Lee Jordan asked. "Harry Potter's really on the train?"
"Yep," said Fred. "George and me helped him with his luggage. Saw his scar up close."
"Freaky," said Lee. "What's he like?"
"Bit shy, really," said George, stowing his trunk. "I don't think he knows how famous he is yet."
"Yeah," said Fred. "I heard he grew up with Muggles, too. Weird."
"He's hanging out with Ron, of all people," said George, rolling his eyes.
The compartment door slid open, and Angelina Johnson strode in. She grinned at Fred and he lit up at once.
"Hey, Angie," he said, getting up and giving her a quick hug and a clap on the shoulder.
"Wotcher, Fred," she said. She stepped back from his embrace and gave George a quick hug.
"Hiya, Angie," said Lee, grinning at her.
"Hey," said Fred. "Only I get to call her Angie. Right, Angie?"
"Right, Freddie," she said, winking at him. Fred blushed and slapped George on the shoulder when George sniggered at him.
"Fine," said Lee. "AngeLINA. You look nice."
Angelina rolled her eyes. She had grown used to Lee's flirtatiousness; he'd had a crush on her for ages. Fred was pleased that she'd never seemed to reciprocate that crush.
"Thanks," said Angelina, sitting down next to Fred. Fred got a good look at her. She DID look nice. She had gotten a bit taller and her hair was done in what had to be thousands of tiny braids that reached just to her chin. Her skin looked a bit darker, more coffee than cream. She'd mentioned in one of her letters that she was going to the West Indies with her parents for part of the summer. Wherever that was. Someplace tropical. Apparently she had relatives over there. Her teeth were perfect as ever and Fred couldn't help but notice that she had grown in a few other areas as well. His neck felt hot and he looked away.
"So, Angelina, this is Butch," Lee was saying, and he opened the cage.
"Cool!" she said. "Can I hold him?"
"Of course," Lee said, winking. Angelina reached into the cage and withdrew the spider, which was the size of a Bludger. It was hairy and horrible looking and had lots of beady little eyes. Angelina set it on her lap and stroked its back with her finger.
"Wow," she said. "Did you use an Engorgement Charm on him?"
Fred couldn't help but be impressed with her. Most girls--and some boys (Ron included)--would freak out about such a huge spider. Fred couldn't imagine too many people willing to hold a spider that big and pet it. But Angelina was pretty much fearless about bugs and spiders and other creepy crawlies. The only aversion she seemed to have was to slugs.
"Yeah," said Lee, "but I'll have to shrink him once we get to school. McGonagall will do her nut if she sees him that big."
"He's definitely impressive," said Angelina, picking the spider up gently and putting him back in the cage.
The compartment door slid open again and Alicia Spinnet strode in, but gave a little scream when she saw the spider in the cage.
"Ew!" she cried.
"Wanna hold him, Alicia?" said Lee, grinning a bit madly.
"Gross!" she cried. "George, that's disgusting, how can you share a compartment with THAT?"
"Come on, Alicia, you're hurting Butch's feelings," said Lee, pouting.
"Are you coming in or not, 'Liss?" George asked.
"I don't know," said Alicia, eyeing Butch warily.
"Come on, " said George, rolling his eyes. "In or out."
"In," she said reluctantly. "But keep that animal away from me, okay? And close that cage, would you?"
"You bet," said Lee, grinning. Alicia came in but the look on her face suggested that she didn't believe Lee for a second. She sat down next to George and pressed her back against the wall, putting as much distance between herself and Butch as possible.
"Did you hear?" she said, her eyes darting to Butch every few seconds. "Harry Potter's on the train."
"Way ahead of you there, Alicia," said Fred. "We saw him. WE even helped him with his luggage."
"Wow," said Angelina. "What's he like, anyway? I heard he lives with Muggles."
"He's sort of quiet," said George. "Seems normal enough. Well, except for the fact that when last we saw him he was hanging round with Ron."
"Yeah, that doesn't say much for his taste in people, does it?" agreed Fred. "But at least he's not hanging out with Percy."
"Ickle Percy the Prefect," George said, scowling.
"We'd better be careful this year," said Lee. "Your brother'll be owling your mum every other day about you."
"Bugger that," said Fred. "I'm not gonna let Percy get in the way of my fun, thank you very much. And anyway, he's got his own set of distractions."
"Oh yeah?" said Angelina, arching her eyebrows.
"Yeah," said George, grinning. "Fred and me aren't positive but we think he fancies that Ravenclaw prefect."
"Penelope Clearwater," said Fred.
"Sounds like a match made in heaven," said Lee dryly. "Oops, Butch is getting hungry."
Lee set the closed cage down and reached into his bag, then pulled from it a tiny, dead gray mouse. He opened the cage and dangled the mouse above it; Butch the Tarantula lifted himself up on his four back legs, gazing at the mouse eagerly with his two dozen or so beady eyes.
"Oh, YUCK!" cried Alicia. "You're not going to feed him THAT."
"Course I am," said Lee. "This is what Butch eats." He dropped the mouse into the cage, and Butch fell on it. Sickening crunching sounds came a moment later.
"Gross," said Alicia, covering her face with her hands.
Angelina giggled. "It's just nature in action. Well, sort of. I mean, spiders don't usually grow that big, do they?"
Fred laughed weakly and felt slightly sick, not that he was going to admit this, especially since Angelina seemed to be completely unfazed by the nasty sounds coming from Butch's cage.
Lee grinned and set Butch's cage on the floor, sliding it under the seats. Fred was grateful; Butch was cool but Fred didn't really want to SEE the remains of dead mouse that were surely now littering the cage.
Just then, the food trolley came by.
"Afternoon, dears," said the kindly witch pushing the cart. "Anything from the trolley?"
Fred immediately forgot about the unpleasantness in Butch's cage and felt his stumble rumble. He bit back a frustrated sigh. He had a little money but he knew he couldn't afford to blow it on sweets. No, he was stuck with his mother's corned beef sandwiches, which she'd hastily prepared that morning.
"Yeah," said Angelina, and she proceeded to buy rather a lot of sweets, including several Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Pasties, Chocolate Frogs and a few cartons of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.
"You're going to eat all that?" said George, impressed.
"No," said Angelina. "I'm sharing it with Fred."
Fred's face lit up. "Cool! Thanks, Angie."
"Hey!" said George indignantly. "How come I don't get any? And don't give me that crap about 'you're the Special Twin.'"
"I want some, too!" said Lee, pouting again.
"Get your own, Lee," said Angelina pointedly.
"Fine," said Lee, and he proceeded to buy as many sweets as Angelina. "And I'm eating every last one!" He grinned and shoved a Cauldron Cake greedily into his mouth.
Alicia, meanwhile, purchased a generous, if somewhat smaller amount of sweets.
"I'll share with you, Georgie," she said, smiling sweetly. George flushed bright red and Fred sniggered.
They all paid the witch and she toddled off; for several minutes there was no conversation, only the unwrapping and eating of sweets. Alicia, George and Lee all seemed to congregate together over their sweets, leaving Fred and Angelina to themselves.
Angelina opened a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and pulled a putrid, pale gray bean out.
"This doesn't look promising," she said, then grinned at Fred. She bit a tiny piece of the bean.
"Ugh!" she cried. "I think that's lint flavoured."
Fred grabbed a handful of beans and popped a sickly green one in his mouth.
"Yuck!" he said at once. "Pea soup. I HATE pea soup."
"Brussels sprouts," said Angelina, screwing up her face at the second bean she'd tasted.
"Strawberry," said Fred happily. "That's more like it. But this one looks disgusting. Here, you eat it." He tossed the bean at her and it bopped her on the nose. She caught it in her hand before it fell to the floor.
"I'm not eating this," she said. "You eat it." And she threw it back at him, where it hit him on the forehead.
"You eat it!" he said, laughing, throwing it back at her, but his aim went wide and the bean popped against the back of an empty seat.
"No, you!" cried Angelina, now giggling madly. She grabbed a handful of beans and chucked them at Fred.
"Hey!" He threw his handful of beans at her.
"FOOD FIGHT!" Lee Jordan screeched, and within seconds the compartment was in chaos, sweets flying in every direction. Alicia got hit in the forehead with a Cauldron Cake; it didn't hurt her at all but it did leave a huge bit of icing smeared in her hair. Chocolate Frogs began to leap out of their boxes; one settled in Fred's hair. Angelina took a Pumpkin Pasty to the shoulder; it landed wetly on her robes and left a gooey mark there. And all the while were shouts and screams and giggles. Butch the Tarantula was in an uproar, snatching at falling bits of sweets with his hairy pincers as they landed just outside his wire cage.
"WHAT IS GOING ON?"
The sound of the new voice caused the food fight to end as abruptly as it started.
Fred, who was now covered in sweets, looked up to see Percy standing in the door, with Penelope Clearwater. Penelope had a look of surprise on her face, but Percy looked positively disgusted.
Fred glanced at George, and they both grinned.
"Hiya, Percy," said Fred jauntily. "Care for some sweets?"
"I've got a Pumpkin Pasty right here," said George. "Or, a bit of one, anyway." He peeled a piece of Pumpkin Pasty from his face and held it out.
"Not even at school yet and you two are acting like--like IDIOTS," said Percy angrily.
"Oh, come ON, Percy, it's just a bit of fun," said Fred, annoyed.
"Your bit of fun has created a mess," Percy snapped. "I'm giving both of you detention."
"WHAT?!" Fred and George yelled, and they both stood up angrily.
"You can't do that!" Fred protested.
"I just did," said Percy hotly.
"That's totally unfair!" said George.
"Fine, detention for EVERYONE!" Percy yelled. "Happy now, Fred, George? But since I'm feeling generous I won't owl Mum about this. In the meantime, clean up this mess. And Lee, shrink that spider down to its normal size."
"You can't boss us--" George began.
"Watch me," said Percy. "Or shall I go ahead and owl mum and let her send you ten Howlers before term even starts?"
Fred opened his mouth to speak, then stopped. It was already his and George's fault that Lee, Alicia and Angelina had detention. He didn't want to get them--especially Angelina--in any more trouble.
"Fine," Fred said instead, through gritted teeth. "Now could you please LEAVE so we can clean up?"
Percy glared at Fred, then at George.
"I'm warning you both," said Percy. "No funny business this year. Mum and Dad have enough to deal with without you two causing problems." He turned to the girl at his side. "Let's go, Penny."
Penelope--who hadn't said a word--merely nodded and followed Percy down the length of the train car.
"Git," said Fred, slamming the compartment door.
"Has he always been like that?" said Angelina.
"Pretty much," said Fred bitterly. "Only now he's worse. Now he's a PREFECT."
George made a gagging noise. "Bloody insufferable wanker," he said angrily.
"Shit," said Fred. "We're sorry. Now you three have detention, too."
"Ah, I don't care, mate," said Lee. "Detention is never really as bad as all that."
"I don't care, either," said Angelina.
George turned to Alicia.
"Well," she said slowly. "I'm not thrilled about it but I WAS participating, so I can't really get upset, can I?"
George grinned. "That's the spirit, 'Liss. You've never had detention before, have you?"
She shook her head.
"Welcome to the club, then," said Fred, grinning. "Everyone has had at least ONE detention during their time at Hogwarts."
"Except Percy," said George. "And look how he's turned out."
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School started out well enough for Fred. He'd served his detention, and another (for helping Lee set Butch loose on a few Slytherins while on the train). He wasn't thrilled about his lesson schedule, either. Snape was as horrible as ever. McGonagall was no less strict (although Fred knew that she secretly was quite fond of the him and George, she never showed them any favoritism or let them get away with anything). The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was a bit of a joke. He was new--it seemed that nobody could hold onto that post for more than a year--and his name was Professor Quirrell. He had a fairly bad stutter, always looked as though he wanted to bolt from a room in terror, and he wore a strange purple turban that smelled faintly of garlic. The rumor was that Quirrell had come into contact with a vampire somewhere, and it had scared him silly. In any case, he wasn't much use as a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
The biggest problem with this school year, as far as Fred was concerned, was the Quidditch team. Gerald Prewitt and Michael Marchbanks had both finished school last term. It was relatively easy to replace Marchbanks; they found a capable Chaser at the Quidditch try-outs, a second-year girl named Katie Bell. But finding a Seeker was proving to be impossible. Nobody had the right combination of speed, agility, and quickness (not to mention the eye) to find the Snitch. It bothered Fred no end that the Gryffindors hadn't won the Quidditch Cup since Charlie had left. But who could possibly be as good a Seeker as Charlie?
But if Fred was disgruntled about Gryffindor's Quidditch problems, Oliver Wood was both livid and obsessed. He'd played Keeper for the team since his second year--the year after Charlie left--and Gryffindor hadn't yet won the cup. Wood's single obsession was to win the Quidditch Cup before he left school. Now that he was in his fifth year he was starting to panic about it.
The problem of the Seeker was solved, however, in the most unlikely of circumstances. Fred only learned the details later, but one evening when he and George arrived at Quidditch practice (late, because they were serving detention for having jinxed the toilet seats in the boy's bathroom to start singing), Fred got the shock of his life.
Sitting in the Quidditch tent, outfitted in gear and carrying a magnificent Nimbus 2000 broom, was none other than Harry Potter.
It was rare that anything could render Fred (or George) speechless, but seeing Harry Potter--famous Harry Potter, and only a first-year, at that-- sitting there in Gryffindor Quidditch robes and holding the latest Nimbus (the best broom in the world) was one such thing.
"Hey," said Wood briskly. "This is our new Seeker. I think you know him by now."
"H-hi," said Harry. He looked very nervous, and very small and skinny. Fred wondered just how this kid planned to stay on his broom at all--he couldn't weigh more than 80 pounds. But Fred smiled at Harry nonetheless and sat down as Wood continued to drone on about strategy.
After just two minutes of this Fred tuned out. He never did pay much attention to Wood's painfully long strategy sessions. What, after all, did he need to pay attention for? He was a Beater; his job was to make sure Bludgers didn't knock his teammates off their brooms. Strategy was for the Chasers.
Fred's eyes wandered over to Angelina. She looked bored, but she appeared to be making an effort to absorb what Wood was saying. She turned and glanced at Fred and smiled. He smiled back. He let his eyes rest on her as Wood yammered on about Sloth Grip Rolls. Fred liked looking at Angelina.
"All right, let's go," said Wood sharply. His voice snapped Fred out of his reverie, and he and George followed the rest of the team out of the tent and onto the pitch. Angelina came to Fred's side.
"Can you believe it?" she whispered. "Harry Potter, a Seeker?"
"Yeah, how'd that happen, anyway?" Fred whispered back.
"McGonagall," said Angelina. "Apparently she saw him flying during the first-years flying lesson. Said he was a natural. Better than Charlie, even."
"Nobody's better than Charlie," Fred said defensively.
"I'm just saying what SHE said," said Angelina. "I know Charlie's the best."
She grinned at Fred and he grinned back. A loyal friend, was Angelina.
But once Fred was in the air and saw Harry fly, he realized McGonagall had a point. Harry flew astoundingly well; he had a natural affinity for his broom, he wasn't afraid to try risky moves, and he had fantastic reflexes.
True, Harry's broom was far better than Charlie's, so he was able to fly faster. Then there was the fact that Harry was small; it gave him an advantage in terms of quickness, agility, and in making sharp and difficult turns. Charlie had overcome his own rather large build and his old broom and had become something of a legend at the school.
Still, Fred could tell Harry was, indeed, a natural. All the more incredible considering the kid hadn't even flown at all until he came to Hogwarts (this Fred had learned from Ron).
The practice ended three hours later; all of them were sweaty and exhausted, but Fred had to admit he was impressed, not only with Harry's flying but with the cohesiveness of the team as a whole. They might just win the bloody Cup this year after all.