Disclaimer: Sue me not! The franchise isn't mine!
Chapter Three – Of Potions, Pranks and Parchment
The group turned back to face the table again and were met with the sight of food materialising on the dozens of plates in front of them. For most of them this was nothing special, it was a simple piece of magic that they'd seen before, but for Alicia it was astonishing.
She watched in delight as all of the plates upon the table filled up with different kinds of food. This was magic, soon she'd be learning these type of things. That thought alone made her feel excited. Following the lead of the others she began to fill her plate with the newly appeared food, taking a little of everything. The group talked amongst themselves as they ate, discussing the sorting mainly. They told one another what they'd heard the hat mutter to them when it was upon their head, and laughed together when Fred told them he'd been told he was too heroic and devilishly handsome NOT to be in Gryffindor.
When the puddings arrived to replace the main course the conversation changed as Fred and George told them all that Percy had told them about their upcoming classes. Fred and George were looking forward to flying lessons so that they could get up in the air, they told the rest they'd been flying for years, playing Quidditch with their older brothers back home, and they loved it. Alicia liked the sound of Charms, whilst Lee told them all he wanted to try out Astronomy. Angelina and Katie, on the other hand, both liked the sound of Transfiguration. It was unsurprising that no one chose Potions as the subject they were most looking forward to, as George pointed out a man on the teachers table who taught the class, telling them all that his brothers had told him many tales of his dislike of Gryffindor house in particular.
By the time the plates had been wiped clean of the desserts they had moved on to listening to Fred, George and Lee try to outdo each other with their crude jokes that elicited more groans than laughs from the girls. They were interrupted when the old man (whom George had pointed out as Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster) again rose to his feet and cleared his throat. They all turned back round to face him, abandoning their conversation.
"I trust you have all eaten your fill." Said Professor Dumbledore kindly, smiling around at his students.
"I'm afraid I must now interrupt you all to give out a few notices. Firstly, all first years should note that the forest in the castle grounds is out of bounds to all."
At this Alicia noticed out of the corner of her eye that the twins had turned to each other and raised their eyebrows.
"Quidditch trails will be held over the course of next week, please note that only second years and above may try out for their house Quidditch team. If you wish to put your name down for a trial then please see your head of house as soon as possible."
"Why shouldn't first years be allowed on the team? We've as much right as anyone." they heard Angelina whisper. But before any of them could respond Professor Dumbledore continued.
"Mr Filch has also asked me to remind you all that the use of magic within school corridors is strictly forbidden and anyone breaking this rule shall be subject to the usual cheery interview with Mr Filch himself."
A laugh went up around the hall from the older students. Fred and George seemed to understand the professor's joke but the rest of the six friends didn't. As the laughter died down Fred mouthed at them.
"We'll tell you later."
They nodded and turned back to Dumbledore again, who had once more resumed talking.
"Now I am sure you are all very tired, it is time for some rest. First years should follow their house Prefects who will lead you to your house common room. Thank you all and goodnight."
With that he sat down once again and the six of them pulled themselves to their feet. Weaving in between other students heading for the exit to the hall they approached a student a few years older than them who was wearing a shiny Prefect badge.
"Who'd want to be a prefect? It'd take all the fun out of life. You'd have to have a really boring life to want to give everything up just for a badge!" George said to them loudly.
The prefect glared down at him and turned to lead the group out of the hall. Angelina turned to George.
"What are you doing? The last thing we need is the prefects thinking we're troublemakers on our first day!"
"Relax!" George said quietly. "I'm just trying to see how much he'll take. It'll be useful for some of our…ideas."
He indicated Fred as he spoke and the two of them grinned devilishly. Angelina looked like she was going to object for a moment, but Alicia interrupted her.
"Oh let them have their fun, as long as we stay out of it we're alright."
"Fine. But don't expect me to join in with any of your pranks." Angelina snapped at the twins. George grinned at Alicia.
"Thanks."
Alicia grinned back; to tell the truth she was partial to the odd prank every now and again. They livened things up a bit. She didn't want Angelina stomping her foot down on every prank that reared its head.
As they walked through the castle the boys continued to comment loudly how only people who weren't right in the head would want to be a prefect, Alicia having difficulty holding in fits of laughter whenever the prefect turned round to glare, and Angelina was frowning disapprovingly at the twins. Finally the prefect stopped the group and lectured them on how they should be a bit more mature and have a bit more respect for older students. He then ordered that all of them walk in silence until they reach the common room. When they continued walking the whole lot of them burst into a fit of silent laughter, even Angelina, each of one them congratulating George in whispers for putting a humorous end on their day.
When they reached a portrait of a very plump lady hanging on the wall the prefect stopped the group.
"This is the Fat Lady." He said, indicating the portrait behind him.
"She is the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room. In order to enter you'll need to give her the password. Our password for this term is 'Venomous Tentacula'. Venomous Tentacula, got that? Whatever you do don't forget it. You won't be able to get into the common room without it."
They all nodded, so the prefect turned and gave the password to the Fat Lady. They watched as the portrait swung open, revealing a very comfortable looking Common Room with a staircase on the left and the right. When they were all inside the portrait closed behind them and the prefect addressed them once more.
"Boys, your dormitory can be found at the top of the staircase to the left, and girls yours is at the top of the staircase to the right. You'll find all your things have been taken up to your room."
Again the group nodded, and the prefect saw his job as done. He turned and walked over to a group of older students sat around the fireplace leaving the six friends alone.
"Guess we should go up to bed then." Said Katie, glancing at the other two girls as she spoke.
"I've got some things I need to unpack before tomorrow."
Angelina and Alicia agreed. The boys did not.
"Unpack? What for? You'll be going home again in four months time!" complained Lee.
"Come on, just one game of Exploding Snap first! I'll go and grab my cards from my trunk."
Angelina rolled her eyes.
"Unlike you three we aren't happy with leaving everything we own screwed up in a trunk for four months."
Alicia nodded fervently and Fred rolled his eyes.
"Why not? It saves time! If you leave things where they are then you wont have to repack them come Christmas!"
"That maybe Lee but if we leave them where they are for four months then whenever we need a change of clothes we'll be so full of creases Professor McGonagall would look wrinkle free." Katie retorted.
They all burst out laughing.
"Well you'd better be off then. I don't think I could stand seeing three McGonagall's strolling into the common room every day." Laughed Fred.
"Katie and Angelina turned and began to head for the staircase to the right.
"Night." They called as they went.
"Meet in the common room before breakfast tomorrow right?" Alicia said.
"That way we can all go down together."
"We're so irresistible you can't bear to go without us for a day?" asked George, smirking.
"Idiots." She said as she turned to follow Katie and Angelina.
"Just don't forget."
"Alright, alright, we'll meet down here."
"Good. Night then."
"Night." They called after her.
When she had disappeared from view they turned to each other.
"Suppose we'd better head on up too then, we can play that game of Exploding Snap up there if you're still interested." Fred said to Lee.
"Sure." Replied Lee.
"We've got all night."
Together they climbed the staircase on the left until they reached a door marked 'First Years'. They pushed it open and entered the room, closing it behind them.
Time at Hogwarts seemed to rush past at twice the normal speed for all of them. The October half term approached and each of them could remember their first day as clearly as if it had happened yesterday. In the one and a half month gap between the present and their first day the six of them had become firm friends. Each morning they met up in the common room before heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast, and they sat together in all of their classes. For the most part they were enjoying their lessons, aside from Potions of course, which they had found to actually be worse than George had originally described.
Their teacher, Professor Snape, seemed to have developed a dislike for them as soon as he set eyes on them. They assumed simply this was because they were in Gryffindor, having been assured by Percy that Snape behaved in the same way toward the Gryffindor's in his class.
Unfortunately it worked out that double Potions was their last lesson before the half term break began, and thus it was that all six of them were sat around a bench weighing out ingredients. Snape was prowling around amongst the cauldrons of the Hufflepuff students (they were paired with Hufflepuff for Potions) doling out harsh criticisms as he reached each student.
Alicia was bored, Potions didn't interest her at all and she often found that Professor Snape made her nervous, causing her to make simple mistakes in her work. She wasn't really paying much attention to her Potion, her mind thinking ahead to the week of free time ahead of them. She was jolted to attention when George hissed in her ear.
"What are you doing?"
"What?" she whispered back, confused.
She glanced over to Snape, he had reached the last Hufflepuff student, any moment now he'd be heading over here.
"You've deformed your rat spleen!" George hissed, pointing down at the table in front of her where she had absent-mindedly been chopping up her rat spleen into far too thin sections.
"Damn!" she cursed. This would give Snape yet another excuse to pick on her, he seemed to revel in it. Every lesson he would find some reason to make nasty comments about her work.
"Give it here." George told her hurriedly.
Alicia pushed her now ruined rat spleen towards him.
"What are you going to do? It's too late now. I'll just have to…"
"Well, well, well…"
Alicia froze and looked up to see Snape leering down at them from above George's cauldron.
"What have you done to that spleen Weasley? Plainly you were not listening when I told you that it needed to be sliced into pieces precisely one centimetre in width."
George said nothing, Alicia gaped as she watched him getting criticised for her mistake. What was he doing? He'd get marked down. She felt something wet and slippery make contact with her hand and almost gasped out in shock. She glanced down quickly to see what it was and saw that it was George's own rat spleen, clutched in his hand. He wanted her to take it before Snape saw anything.
She took it out of his hand quickly, sliding it up onto her desk whilst Snape continued to make nasty comments about George's Potion making skills.
"If you put that into your potion it would be rendered useless. I think we'll make that a well rounded 0 for this potion shall we?"
Alicia's jaw dropped. She owed him, big time. Snape had warned her that if she received one more 0 then she would have to take remedial potions to improve. George had saved her from an extra two hours a week with Snape.
Snape smirked at George before moving on to her.
"How surprising Miss Spinnet. You have actually managed to do something right for a change. Ensure you are very careful cutting up your spleen. I don't particularly want to have to see any more of you than I have to each week."
Alicia glanced down the table at the others, all of whom were glaring at Snape. She looked up again as Snape dipped his finger into her potion.
"Far too thick, you didn't stir it nearly enough girl. This scores barely above 20. It would more likely kill an animal than shrink it."
Her face went red as she stared down at the desk, only looking up when Snape moved on to Lee, who was on her other side. She gave George a grateful smile before turning her full attention to the new spleen. She had to get this one right.
An hour later they all trailed out of the dungeon and started up the gloomy corridor back to the Entrance Hall. Alicia gave George a quick hug once they'd moved out of sight of the dungeon entrance.
"Thanks George, I owe you one." She said with a smile.
"Don't mention it." Replied George.
"I don't particularly care what Snape thinks anyway."
Angelina and Katie were berating Fred and Lee in the background for yelling out:
"Oooooooooo, Alicia loves George!" when she hugged him.
Alicia laughed as she turned back round to see Fred being shoved roughly down the corridor by an annoyed Angelina and Lee trying to explain to Katie that it had been a joke with little success.
"Got any ideas for what to do during the holiday?" she asked George.
"Nah, just planning to relax mainly. We've got something planned for after the feast tonight though."
Alicia frowned.
"You'd better not do anything whilst Angelina is around, you know ho much she hates your pranks."
George nodded solemnly.
"Yeah, she's the reason why we're waiting until after the feast. She'd go ballistic if she found out we were the ones wreaking havoc during mealtime."
They continued walking in silence; they had nearly reached the Entrance Hall by now. Alicia was the one to break the silence.
"So what are you planning exactly?"
George grinned at her.
"I knew you'd be interested. Fred thought you'd be more likely to take Angelina's side, but I get the feeling you like our little pranks. Am I right?"
Alicia blushed slightly and grinned sheepishly.
"Well…yeah. A bit. They keep me entertained and all."
George chuckled.
"Good, that's what they're meant for. Entertaining people."
He left it at that, Alicia waited for a moment to see if he would continue. When he didn't she spoke up again.
"You didn't answer my question."
"I know."
"Well? Are you going to answer?"
"No. You'll have to wait and see if you're interested."
"What? Oh come on, you can tell me!" she whined.
George chuckled.
"I'm not going to tell. It's taken us two days to set up. Wait and see. Be in the Entrance Hall after dinner."
Alicia frowned for a moment, displeased that he wasn't going to tell her.
"Fine. I'll be there." She replied finally.
"But it better be worth it."
George simply continued grinning at her.
"Don't worry, it will be."
It was about ten minutes after they'd left the Great Hall that Fred, George, Lee and Alicia entered the Entrance Hall. They'd gone back to Gryffindor tower with Angelina and Katie originally, but had given them the slip when they'd gone up to their dormitory to fetch something.
"Right," said Fred.
"We should get started. Alicia, get inside that broom cupboard over there."
"What?" yelled Alicia indignantly.
"Why me?"
"Because you aren't part of the prank, you're just a bystander." Answered Lee with a wink
After insisting that unless she did as she was told they wouldn't pull the prank Alicia trooped grumbling into the broom cupboard and closed the door to, so that there was just enough of a gap for her to see through.
She watched and listened as each of the boys pulled out their wands and performed the hover charm on different objects. George was levitating a dungbomb at the top of the stairs leading into the hall, Fred was levitating another dungbomb at the ground level entrance to the hall, and Lee was levitating a rather large suit of armour, and moving it so that it was in the middle of the hall.
"Ok Alicia!" George called.
"Whatever you do stay in that cupboard. Filch won't find you there."
She didn't answer, she had a good idea of what they were planning now. She would have felt sorry for Filch if he hadn't reported Katie for making her bag float alongside her so that she didn't have to carry it last week.
"Here goes!" Called Lee.
CRASH
Lee had dropped his wand and the suit of armour crashed to the floor with an ear-splitting noise. He dashed to the cupboard where Alicia was hiding, pulled open the door, dashed inside and pulled the door to once more. Alicia elbowed him out of the way until she could see out of the crack once more. By now there was a sound of thundering footfalls approaching, it was Filch.
He came dashing through the ground floor entrance to the hall and ran slap bang into the dungbomb Fred was levitating there. He spluttered at the dungbomb exploded, filling the air around him with the scent it contained. Fred and George were roaring with laughter, but when Filch roared it certainly wasn't due to amusement. He made a dart towards Fred and George who ducked out of reach and dashed up the stairs, George making the dungbomb he was carrying zoom back into his pocket as he went. Filch tore after them, yelling with fury, leaving Lee and Alicia laughing so hard they had tears streaming down their faces in the cupboard.
It took them five full minutes to calm down and stop laughing so hard. They wiped the tears of laughter from their eyes and emerged from the cupboard, closing it behind them.
"What now?" asked Alicia, her voice still shaking with laughter.
"Back to the common room I guess." Replied Lee.
"Boy was that worth the last 2 nights of planning."
"Definitely. I'll never forget that look on Filch's face." Replied Alicia, spluttering into another wave of laughter as she pictured it again.
Together they headed up the stairs and towards Gryffindor Tower, thinking they'd meet Fred and George there.
However Fred and George had not made it there. They'd reached the third floor, Filch still thundering behind them, Fred grabbed the handle of the nearest door and tugged. Nothing happened. George grabbed hold of the handle too and together the tugged, still nothing. By the time they realised it was simply one of the many trick doorways that littered the school it was too late, Filch was upon them.
"Well then…" he spat.
"Think this is funny do you? Wreaking havoc in the corridors, using forbidden items on the school premises, using magic in the corridors…I'll have you I will. Follow me."
He pushed them roughly forwards, making them walk in front of him as he led them to his office.
"There was a time I'd have you hanging by your wrists in the dungeons for this." He told them nastily as they walked.
"Oh yes, before the old punishments died. The new ones aren't as satisfying, oh no. But they're effective. Lets see how a weeks worth of detentions over the holidays suits you."
Fred and George didn't say a word. Whatever punishment Filch gave them it had been worth it, the prank had come off splendidly and they could still smell the scent of dung wafting around Filch.
When they reached Filch's office they were pushed inside where his cat (Mrs Norris) was curled up on a comfy chair. Filch followed and slammed the door behind them, muttering to himself as he searched for his notebook to record their 'crime' as he called it. Whilst Filch's back was turned to them Fred nudged George, pointing to a drawer next to him marked 'Confiscated and Highly Dangerous.'
George raised his eyebrows as he saw it and dipped his hand into his pocket, pulling out the unused dungbomb and showing it to Fred. Fred nodded at him and George grinned, moving away from Fred to the other side of the office.
Just as Filch picked up his shabby little notebook out of a drawer in his desk George threw the dungbomb directly at him. Mrs Norris hissed and screeched as the smell began to fill the room, and Filch roared, spinning round to face George, yelling obscenities as he did so. After several minutes of being yelled at George was grabbed by the neck of his robes by Filch and marched over the door, which Filch opened, and thrown physically out. A moment later Fred followed.
"Mark my words, professor McGonagall will hear about this!" roared Filch, slamming his door so hard that the twins thought the hinges were going to come off.
Picking themselves off the floor the twins ran for it before Filch could change his mind. They didn't stop until they reached the Fat Lady, gasping the password and dashing into the crowded common room. Before they could do anything they had Alicia and Lee bearing down upon them, demanding to know where they'd been. It took them a moment to regain their breath before they could respond, but when they could speak they related everything to them.
Lee and Alicia nearly collapsed with laughter when George told them he'd dropped another dungbomb right inside Filch's office. Out of the corner of their eye they could see Angelina and Katie, who were sitting at a table trying to do their homework, eyeing them curiously, and that only made them laugh harder.
"What did you get from the drawer?" Lee finally managed to ask in between waves of laughter.
Fred pulled a piece of old parchment out of his robes.
"This."
George looked puzzled.
"But that's just a bit of old parchment. What was it doing in a drawer marked 'Confiscated and Highly Dangerous'?"
"There must be more to it than meets the eye." Said Alicia.
"Filch wouldn't confiscate it for nothing. We just have to work out what its hiding and how to reveal it.
They all agreed and Fred slipped the parchment back into his robes.
"I'll take it upstairs later." He told them. "For now we should probably change the subject. Angelina and Katie are looking at us like we've all just sprouted three heads."
This comment set off another wave of laughter, and the group of them headed over to Angelina and Katie's table, struggling to put an end to their laughter.
A/N: Another chapter done. I originally intended to describe their first day of lessons, but in the end I decided not to. Wanted to skip ahead and address the Marauder's Map issue.
The prank took me some time to think up, I didn't want it to just be dropping a dungbomb in between lessons. That seemed boring. Hopefully my way was more entertaining.
Not sure what will be in the next chapter yet. You'll just have to wait and see.
My thanks again to those who've taken the time to review so far. Those of you who haven't please find time to if you can. I'm hungry for more reviews.