"Potter! Weasley! Would you stop your private conversations please?" It was Professor McGonagall. Harry and Ron were sitting at the back of the class, discussing the previous day's event about the attacking giant that ruined the whole Quidditch pitch, and scared the daylights out of everyone.
"Sorry," apologized Ron, then paying close attention to Professor McGonagall, who was explaining about the sixth years approaching them most difficult level of their wizarding education, N.E.W.T.S.
"But," interrupted Parvati Patil, "I thought we take N.E.W.T.S. in seventh year, not sixth year."
Professor McGonagall shot her a sharp look, which silenced her right away.
"As I was saying," Professor McGonagall went on, "you are entering the highest qualification level of your wizarding education at Hogwarts, N.E.W.T.S. Yes, I know that you don't take them till seventh year, but the studying that we'll begin in two months will give you a glimpse of what a tiny portion of N.E.W.T.S might feel. So mind you study hard and concentrate during classes."
Harry and Ron were both bored with this speech.
"Hermione," whispered Harry, "how many minutes are left till the bell?"
Hermione turned to him quickly, her eyes still focusing on McGonagall.
"Twenty minutes," she answered, and quickly turning around to listen to the rest of Professor McGonagall's boring speech.
"Oh great," said Ron, ironically, and then glancing at the ceiling, his ears vibrating at the loud voice of Professor McGonagall.

At last, the sound of the bell crept into classes and hallways, sending students away from their last lesson of the day. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were all pleased for the lesson to end, perhaps Hermione was the usual exception.
"It was meaningful, her speech I mean," declared Hermione, "N.E.W.T.S are really a tough task to complete. Mind you, you'll have to work extra hard to pass those nastily exhausting test."
"Hermione, will you give it a break?" asked Ron, more likely, grunted angrily. "They don't even being till next year, which is more than twelve months away!"
"Ron!" shouted Hermione. "It's my job to warn you about it! Do you want to keep on failing about two subjects a year? I'm telling you because it's our future we're talking about, not a child-play..."
"Hermione's right Ron," began Harry sympathetically, "you really need to consider studying. You can't afford to fail anymore, can you?"

"Oh go on, side with her!" yelled Ron, his face reddening. "Why doesn't anyone get it? Why the hell should we worry about those bloody tests, when they don't begin until next year?"
Ron walked away, probably for his detention with Snape.

"He must be having a hard time," muttered Harry, giggling.
"He sure does," added Hermione, giggling too.
"So, want to go for a snack?" asked Harry, hearing the sound of hunger emerging from his empty stomach.
"Now?" asked Hermione. "Couldn't you wait till eight o'clock? We could have dinner straight away."
"Well...no...I mean yes...oh...I don't know...all I know is that I'm hungry, ok?" replied Harry, uncertainly.
"Ok, don't bite my head off," said Hermione, laughing. "Should we go to the kitchens?"
"Precisely," At those words, Harry and Hermione raced each other to the kitchens. Harry was running so fast, and Hermione was running as fast as she could. Harry imagined her as being an opponent on the opposing Quidditch team; this was the thing that made him even jump eleven steps on the stairs, then rolling on the ground, with the paint of the fruit basket coming into his view.
"I win!" he raised his fist high up in the air.
"Congratulations!" said Hermione, catching her breath. "You know, I could've won if I hadn't tripped over that rug." She pointed her index finger to the rug on the fifth step from the floor; it was folded in a way that made it seem so thick.
"Yeah, sure," Harry giggled.
After that, Hermione tickled the pair on the painting. It giggled for a moment, and then, a door handle appeared. Harry pulled it down, and he found himself in the kitchens.
House-elves, here and there, were so busy, cooking and preparing the dinner meal. Little house-elves ran from one oven, to the other. On the other side, two house-elves were helping each other to design a perfect jelly, three feet tall. However, it was a mess, one of the house-elves fell into it, very disgusted.
Then, suddenly, Harry heard a very familiar voice he hadn't heard for over five months or so, bouncing all over the place.
"Harry Potter sir! Harry Potter sir! How nice it is for Dobby to see you!" it was Dobby, a little over-excited house-elf that was freed by Harry from the Malfoys', the family Dobby once belonged to.
"Dobby! How are you?" asked Harry, his smile widening.
"Fine sir, Dobby feels great. How are you, Miss?" Dobby turned his tennis ball-like green eyes to Hermione, who was on her knees.
"I'm fine Dobby," replied Hermione, "hey, listen, do you think we could get a snack? If not, we'll come back later after dinner."
Harry looked her in the eyes, in disbelief.
"But of course!" squeaked the happy Dobby. "What would Harry Potter and his friend like?"
"Anything," answered Harry quickly," just to fill up the space here." He was rubbing his stomach.
"It is Dobby's pleasure!" Immediately, Dobby ran over to bring some food.
"He's never upset, isn't he?" asked Harry.
"Well, it's better for him not to," replied Hermione, standing up, gazing at the busy house-elves.
"I wish poor Winky was like him though," proclaimed Harry, sadly. "When is she ever going to change?"
"I don't know," answered Hermione, then interrupted by Dobby, who returned with two plates in both of is trembling hands.
"Thanks Dobby, it's a bit too much for a snack," commented Harry, taking the two plates from the left hand, leaving Hermione to fetch the other two.
"Harry Potter and his friend is most welcome sir! Would sir and miss like some Butterbeer?"
"Two Butterbeers wouldn't do much harm," Harry nodded his head in agreement.
At once, Dobby dashed away, to bring the Butterbeers. A few seconds later, he returned, with one Butterbeer in each hand, the lids were opened, and the foamy Butterbeer came out, staining the shiny floor.
"Oh Dobby, couldn't you at least walk? Why do you need to run?" asked Harry, pointing his wand at the floor. "Scourgify!" The floor was sparkling once again.
"Thank you sir! You could have left it to Dobby! He is knowing how to clean the floor sir."
"Allow me," said Harry politely, as he pulled a chair to seat Hermione on a table. She glanced at him fervently.
"Thanks Harry," replied Hermione, smiling at him.

For half an hour, Harry and Hermione enjoyed their little meal, that turned out to be big.
"I'm full!" said Harry, stretching his hands in the air.
"This is very tasty food they make," declared Hermione, taking a last sip of her foamy Butterbeer.
Finally, the two were finished from eating.
"Goodbye! Do visit us again sir and miss!" said Dobby, waving to the two, as they waved back.
"Wow, now, I couldn't dare place another bite in my mouth," muttered Harry, as he and Hermione climbed up the stairs, heading to their common room.
Somebody has just found them; he was looking awfully exhausted from running a long distance.
"There you are!" shouted a loud voice. It was Ron.
"Hello Ron," said the two.
"I've been looking for you all over the place. First, I checked the common room, thinking that you headed me off. Then, I went to Snape's class, when I thought you'd come look for me. After that, I went to the crammed library; I thought..."
"Ron," said Hermione in distraction, "we're here now. It's allright!"
"Right," mumbled Ron weakly, as the three of them found their way to the common room.

"Harry! Hermione! Ron! Where've you been?" came the shaking excited voice of Neville, as soon as the door sprang open.
"Hi," answered Hermione right away. "Harry and I were in the kitchens, having a snack, or more likely, a full big meal. Ron was serving detention with Snape."
"I see, " began Neville, sitting down on the armchair. "Listen, guess what's on the notice board?"
"What?" asked Harry, mystified.
"Hogsmeade trip, tomorrow!"
"Oh, great!" shouted Ron. "We can go to Honeydukes and Zonko's jokeshop then."
"Is that all you're worried about? Isn't there something more significant?" asked Hermione, not even noticing Ron's reaction. She sat down, by the fire, reading the Daily Prophet, scanning an article about how the Ministry of Magic has been happy ever since Dumbledore became Minister of Magic.
Meanwhile, Harry and Ron enjoyed a little game of Gobstones, in which Harry won luckily. The common room was beginning to become calmer than usual, when students started going to bed. Harry, Hermione, and Ron had no other choice but to sleep, because they needed their energy for tomorrow.
"Goodnight," said Hermione to the two, climbing up the stairs, and heading to the girls' dormitory.
"Night," replied Harry and Ron, their eyes half open, and filled with sleep.

Finally, the sun of Saturday morning shone behind the far horizon, sending its warm tickling rays to the Gryffindor common room, lightning it up, and waking up the students.
"Come on Ron, get up!" Harry was desperate for Ron to wake up; he turned out to be worse than Dudley while sleeping. The blanket was on the floor, and his right leg was on the ground while the left one was folded up. His mouth was slightly opened, revealing only a little portion of the dark smelly inside.
"Ron!" screamed Harry; Neville, Seamus, and Dean jumped out of their beds at that scream.
"What?" At last, Ron awoke, still yawning though. Unfortunately, he hit Harry, unintentionally of course, on the nose with a strong closed fist.
"You idiot!" yelled Harry in pain, then wiping off the blood from his bleeding nose.
Ron got out of bed, and looked closely at Harry, his sight catching the dry blood beneath his left nostril.
"Sorry, did I do that?"
"No, Voldemort did it," replied Harry sarcastically. Ron, as usual, flinched at the sound of the name, which increased Harry's anger.
"Come on, Hogsmeade trip today, we must get ready. The train leaves at eight thirty!" claimed Harry.
Suddenly, Harry and Ron's conversation was interrupted by a soft voice standing meters away.
"Good morning! Get ready, meet you in the Great Hall for breakfast!" it was Hermione, leaning against the door of the boys' dormitory.
"What are you doing here? This is a boys' dormitory!" said Ron, puzzled a bit, as he raised his eyebrows.
"It doesn't matter why I am here. What matters is that you'll be late if you don't hurry up. Besides, you've previously known that wizards and withces of the old times thought that girls were more trustworthy than boys, so, here I am," replied Hermione, disappearing from the door of the dormitory.
Ron shook his head, and then quickly got dressed up, joining Harry to the Great Hall.

As always, the Great Hall was crammed with students on the four house tables. The teachers were at the front, eating their breakfast. Unluckily though, Professor Dumbledore wasn't there, due to business with the Ministry of Magic.
"Eat quickly," instructed Hermione, as the trio sat down on a bench.
"What's the matter with you?" started Ron, annoyed. "Is someone mad with a stick right behind you, getting ready to hit?"
"Shut up, Ron," muttered Hermione confidently, "and start eating. You want to go to Hogsmeade today, don't you? Or would you rather stay in the library researching Muckroots for Herbology?"
She said that, knowing Ron's response.
"Yeah, but..."
"Will you stop fighting?" asked Harry gently, as he spread some butter on his French toast.

Twenty minutes later, the whole Great Hall fell deep in conversation about Hogsmeade. The trio congregated in the hall, in which Mr. Filch always stood, to check their Hogsmeade forms. Nastily as always, he shot the students a dirty disgusting disapproving look, as they went away.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron finally got into the train, which was heading to Hogsmeade right away. The driver waited till the last bit of students hopped in, and then started moving the engine.
Harry was seated beside Hermione, and in the opposite side, Ron, Neville, and Ginny.
"I'm so keen to get to Hogsmeade," started Neville, "I need to get a new plant from WaterLily, to add a bit of decoration to our dormitory."
"Honestly Neville, are plants all you worry about?" asked Ron, snorting.
"Ron, is food all you worry about?" interrupted Hermione, shutting Ron up.

At last, the snowy cold Hogsmeade came into sight. As the students hopped off the train, Harry, Hermione, and Ron waved goodbye to Neville and Ginny, which were joining their fellow Gryffindor sixth and fifth years to Honeydukes.
The trio walked in the heavy snow, glancing at the shops that were there since before they were born. Harry set a look at the Hog's Head, catching a glimpse of Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker, with her gang of girls, drinking some coffee to warm them up. He also saw Draco Malfoy, along with Crabbe and Goyle at The Three Broomsticks. Ron saw a bunch of third and fourth years falling on the ground, laughing as hard as they could, after a joke they saw at Zonko's Joke Shop. Then, Hermione set her eyes on a small golden colored shop she'd never seen before. Some red smoke was coming out of the small chimney on the roof, and there were pictures of two red headed boys she was sure she has seen before, dancing on the corners of a banner hanged on top of the entrance door.
"Harry! Ron!" she said, turning their attention to her. "Look!"
Harry and Ron moved forward a bit, to set a closer look on the shop.
"The Golden Wheezer Joke Shop," read Harry. The words were written in bright green, to stand out, having a golden background.
"Let's go see what they've got over there," commented Ron, and at once, the trio walked over to the shop.
They rubbed their heavy boots over the snowy carpet, and pushed the door open. The smell of joking and humor came into their lungs. At once, dozens of joke materials came into view. Pots, sweets, chocolates, hats, papers, candies, and lots of other unknown stuff. The three heard somebody's footsteps walking down the stairs in a hurry, to check who stepped into their shop.
Clunk, clunk, clunk...
Harry, Hermione, and Ron's eyes almost popped out when they who it was. They had their jaws wide open.
"Blimey! George come here!" It was Fred Weasley, who previously left Hogwarts joining his twin brother for some jokeshop business they planned a long time ago, ever since Harry gave them his Tournament winnings at the end of fourth year. They succeeded in achieving their mighty goal.
"Fred! George!" screamed Ron, as he saw the twin brothers that he hasn't seen for over four months. They kept their own business secret; they never mailed their family in the Burrow or Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place during summer.
"Easy, brother, or you'll squeeze us to death," claimed George painful; he winced as Ron hugged him and Fred.
"Wow!" started Harry, amazed. "Nice shop you've got here!"
"If it hadn't been for your tournament winnings, which were one thousand brilliant blessed galleons, we couldn't have done it!" said Fred, smiling.
"When did you start building this place?" asked Hermione, so happy with the gleaming jokeshop.
"Remember last year when we jumped onto our brooms, and flew away from Hogwarts, escaping Umbridge?" asked George.
"Yes," answered the three.
"Well, Fred suggested returning to Grimmauld Place, to visit Mom,"
"However, my tricky twin brother preferred going to Hogsmeade, to meet some workers that would construct our shop just as we wanted it to be," continued on Fred.
"Indeed, we arrived here, and straight away went looking for workers," added George.
"We stayed in the Hog's Head all the time, of course after summoning our belongings from Hogwarts, which turned out to be torn. You see, we think that Umbridge wanted some revenge," said Fred, laughing.
"But don't worry," George went on, " we sent her a few dungbombs the following evening. Probably, that's why she escaped from the hospital wing the following night as we were told in a letter. I bet Peeves gave her hell from us, didn't he?"
"More than you ever imagined," answered Ron, remembering the humorous Peeves.
"Oh, we missed you so much. We lost the joking spirit of Fred and George Weasley at Hogwarts, so it became a bit boring without you," claimed Hermione.
"Thank you, we missed you ladies too!" said George.
Harry's eyes caught something near him, which seemed weird.
"What's that?" he asked, mystified, pointing at the unknown object.
It was a lollypop, with a pinkish color, and some thread coming out of the middle of the top.
"Oh, that!" said Fred, giving George a wink. "It's Cockroach Legs. Try it, it's on the house this time!"
"Ok," replied Harry, reluctantly. He wasn't sure that he has made a right decision to eat that weird lollypop. He grabbed it slowly, and placed it in his dry mouth. He started chewing it, just like chewing-gum. For moments nothing happened. Then, without warning, the threads that came out of the middle starting moving in his mouth, tickling the inside. He started laughing like a maniac when the threads kept tickling his gum, and tongue. Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George were laughing at him too, watching him pathetically trying to get the lollypop out of his mouth. However, he didn't manage to pull it out, but instead, it pulled itself through Harry's throat. Oops! He swallowed it!
"Now it'll tickle your whole stomach!" George went on.
"Just joking, mate," apologized Fred. By that, Harry was relieved. For the remainder of trip, they sat down with the two crazy jokers asking them about their new inventions. They invented quite a few things. The Frogcontrol, a candy shaped like a frog, when eaten, makes the person hop all over the place like a frog. The Shrinking orange juice, a fluid that when drunk, makes the person shrink to the size of an orange. A new version of Fever Fudge, and the vanishing hat, and lots more of their brilliant creation.
"Your business is no doubt reaching the top. Have you had any visitors yet?" asked Ron.
Fred and George laughed at that.
"More than we ever dreamed of," answered Fred. Then, he got out of his seat, opening the cash register. Ron took a look inside, not believing how much gold was stored in there. He let out a soft sigh, and then turned to look at Harry and Hermione, raising his eyebrows.
"That's right, little bro, twelve thousand knuts, five hundred sickles, and one thousand four hundred an seventy two galleons, " commented Fred, grinning.
"Whoa!" shouted Harry and Hermione together.
Fred and George must have been geniuses to create these wonderful amazing joking materials.
It was time for the trio to leave, after they checked their watches.
"Bye!" said the three, waving at the two twins.
"See you next Hogsmeade trip!" shouted Fred and George.
At those words, the door was opened, and the three left the Golden Wheezer Joke Shop.

"Very thrilling, how they got to do all of this!" said Hermione.
"I'd never thought they would actually succeed!" continued Ron.
"I know," started Harry, "it was very exciting."

Several minutes later, the three congregated around the train, getting ready to return to Hogwarts.
They had such a nice time.