03 - Blame It On The Bogie

The answer to Harry's question was revealed four days later, when Fred and George were headed to Umbridge's classroom. The fuss over their first game had died down, and in fact, most people had forgotten about it. Most people, except Fred, George and Harry. So it was this fateful day that Fred and George were walking towards Umbridge's lesson, when Fred had a bright idea. He turned to his twin and whispered in his ear. George giggled and nodded his head. The twins grinned evilly at each other before entering the classroom, and took their usual place in the room: third row from the back, two seats from the end.

The lesson began normally enough. Well, as normal as it could be for an Umbridge lesson.

"Wands away please," she said in her saccharine-sweet voice. "And turn to chapter 4 in your books please."

The class followed her orders, inwardly groaning at this torture. Usually, Fred and George would also have groaned, but today was different, for the Weasley twins had other things on their minds. Obediently, they turned to chapter 4 and began reading. Lee Jordan couldn't believe his eyes: Fred and George were working? If either of the twins saw Lee's stare, they showed no sign of it and continued to read. Umbridge smirked to herself: finally, she was getting people to obey her. Satisfied that everyone was reading quietly, Umbridge opened her own book and began to read. However, as it turned out, not everyone was reading quietly.

The first utterance of 'Bogies' from George was so quiet that Fred wasn't sure if he'd actually heard his brother say it. He looked up quizzically at George, who gave him a thumbs-up sign, and Fred smiled.

"Bogies," he whispered, and collapsed in silent giggles.

"Bogies," replied George a bit louder, and he too started to shake with laughter.

"Bogies," said Fred again, loud enough that Lee heard it.

"You're not playing that again?" he whispered, though he was grinning. The twins nodded and Fred held a finger to his lips, indicating for Lee to be quiet.

"Bogies!" said George, louder, making Katie and Alicia turn round and glare at him. The twins and Lee cupped their hands over their mouths to repress their giggles.

"Honestly," whispered Katie exasperatedly. Fred poked her in the back and when she turned to look at him, he mouthed the words 'Shut up!' at her. Then it was his turn in the game.

"Bogies!" he said in a normal, conversational tone of voice. Several members of the class turned to look at the twins over their shoulders, smirking and giggling at the twins' game. It was the giggling that caught Umbridge's attention.

"What is going on?" she asked sweetly, looking up in the direction of the twins.

"Nothing, miss. I just needed to cough," replied Fred, straight-faced, whilst Lee, George and several other members of the class suppressed fits of laughter. Umbridge peered suspiciously at Fred for a few moments, but deciding he was telling the truth, turned back to her book.

"Next time that you need to cough, Mr Weasley, please do so without disrupting the rest of the class," she added as an afterthought. Fred nodded, then turned to his brother.

"Your turn," he whispered, an evil smirk crossing his lips. George grinned.

"Bogiiieees," he said, drawing out the last part of the word. All the students in the room started to laugh, and unfortunately for George, Umbridge heard him too.

"What was that, Mr Weasley?" she asked, a dangerous edge to her otherwise girly voice. George shrugged.

"I don't know, miss."

"Don't play dumb with me," she threatened, but still keeping that sweet girly voice, which made her threat altogether more sinister. Fred giggled.

"Dumb is all George knows," he whispered to Lee, and the two of them laughed loudly.

"You think he is funny?" Umbridge said, addressing the two giggling boys.

"No, miss," Lee and Fred replied in unison, keeping their eyes downcast towards the desk. Umbridge regarded all three boys, then took out a sheet of pink paper and started to write something on it.

"We'll see how funny you think he is," she said menacingly, before thrusting the piece of paper towards Fred. "You three will take this to Professor McGonagall. Now. Any questions?" she added, and waited for a reply. The three boys exchanged glances, before George raised his hand.

"I have a question," he said. Umbridge looked faintly surprised.

"And that is?" she replied.

"How come it takes three of us to take a sheet of paper to Professor McGonagall? Surely it's not that heavy," he said, as deadpan as he could. That did it.

"YOU INSOLENT LITTLE…" she began, but Fred cut her off.

"Be careful what you say, Professor Umbridge. There are lots of children here. We don't want them learning any naughty words now, do we?" he mocked, causing more giggles from the students.

"Shut up," Umbridge hissed, livid, and the class became silent. She brought the piece of paper she'd been holding back to her desk with a slam, and scribbled something else on it, before rather violently shoving it into Fred's hands. "You three. Go now."

And they did just that. Fred, George and Lee grabbed their things and quietly walked out of the door, noticing that a few of their classmates were giving them thumbs up as they left. Once out in the safety of the hallway, the trio began laughing again until they were out of breath. It was then that Lee spoke.

"I supposed we should get going then," he said, and the twins nodded.

"Wait a sec," said Fred, and he went back to the classroom door.

"What are you doing?" asked George, as he exchanged a confused look with Lee. Fred merely smiled and placed a finger to his lips, a gesture that told the other two boys to be quiet. He stood facing the classroom entrance, readying himself for what he was about to do, and then he flung open the door to the room.

"BOOOO-GGGIIIEES!" he screamed into the room, and then he slammed the door shut and tore off down the hallway, closely followed by Lee and George. They ran through the castle and only stopped when they were outside McGonagall's classroom, where they collapsed from both laughing and being out of breath.

"Wow…that…was amazing!" said Lee, in between gulping down air.

"Yeah…I didn't…think…you were going…to top mine!" said George, grinning. Fred smiled at his brother.

"You know what…this means, don't you?" he said, and seeing the puzzled look on George's face, he continued. "It means…we're even now. You've…won once, and I've won once."

George nodded. "So looks like we'll have to play again."

"Once we get this detention over with," replied Fred.

"Question is, boys, where will you play next?" asked Lee, looking at the twins. They both shrugged, and turned to McGonagall's classroom, where the door had opened and McGonagall stood staring at them.

"What are you doing out here?" she questioned, and Fred handed her the piece of paper. She looked disgustedly at the lurid pink paper before skimming over the writing on the page.

"Detention with Professor Umbridge…for 6 weeks…for saying Bogies in a lesson. Well, boys, it looks like you'll be having the pleasure of Professor Umbridge's company for the next 6 weeks," the Gryffindor head of year said, fixing her gaze on her students. Then without another word, she swept back into her classroom and shut the door behind her. The three boys looked at each other.

"Detention with Umbridge. Bring it on," Lee said, and the boys laughed again as they headed up to their common room, waiting for their detention with Umbridge to begin.