Chapter 16
Fred and George Leave
And they were. All the fireworks exploded all over the school. The look on Umbridge's face was worth a million Galleons, especially when she was freaking out to Filch.
The professors were so cool when fireworks came into the classes. They'd send a student to get Umbridge to get rid of the fireworks and then say, "I could do it myself, but I wasn't sure I had the authority." Every time one of the teachers would say that, everybody would burst out laughing, and Umbridge's face would get incredibly red. Haha! That toad deserved it!
Fred and George told me that they had something else planned, but they didn't give me any specifics. They just told me that it was very important for me to test a Nosebleed Nougat. So I listened to them, trusting that they'd tell me in due time. But when I tried the end that was supposed to stop the bleeding, it only got worse. "I'm sorry Paige," Fred muttered, right before I blacked out from loss of blood. I was in the hospital wing when Fred and George made their flight to freedom.
Lee told me all about it as soon as I got out of the hospital wing. "It was amazing! Peeves actually listened to them!" he finished. My face was unreadable, just like I wanted it to be. Inside, I was fuming. I couldn't believe that they put me in the hospital wing, so I would miss their amazing escape. If I had known what they were planning, I would have come too! So I threw myself into NEWT studies, while waiting for a reply to the letter I had sent them.
It took a long time to get an answer, but it was worth the wait, I guess. "Paige," it read. "I know you probably hate us right now for not telling you about what we were going to do, and even more so for putting you in the hospital wing."
"You got that right!" I muttered before continuing.
"But we have our reasons. You would have come with us if we let you in on the secret. We can't do that to your future. You have the power to be the best Curse Breaker/Auror that the wizarding world has ever seen. Leaving school would ruin that. Love forever-Gred and Forge."
I smiled, but I couldn't really say it was exactly what I wanted to hear. They did that sometimes…treat me like their little sister, I mean.
Lee and I took the advice Fred and George had given Peeves to heart. We did everything in our power to make Umbridge's life miserable. Our personal favorite was sneaking nifflers into Umbridge's office. In between trying to make Umbridge's life a living hell, and helping Peeves do the same thing, I was worrying about NEWTs. I studied, but only half-heartedly, as Fred and George weren't there to make up random songs to make the homework hilarious. The Portable Swamp they had left was amazing, and every time I glimpsed it, I was filled with admiration for my greatest heroes.
NEWTs came, and I was filled with determination to do well, so I could please Fred and George, and prove to them that they had made the right decision, by making me stay at Hogwarts.
My first NEWT examination was Arithmancy. It went well, but to say it was tough would have been a gross understatement. I might have scraped an Outstanding, but I probably got Exceeds Expectations.
Next was Charms. The theory was hard (what do you expect for a Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test?), but the practical was more fun. A lot of the Charms I'd be using in my life in just a couple of weeks.
Defense Against the Dark Arts was cool. I think I did well because of the DA, and I really wanted to do well to prove to Harry that a lot of good came out of the DA.
Potions was unbelievably cool. Though, I was tempted to steal the Felix Felicius that I brewed. God knows I'd need it during the Transfiguration exams.
Turns out Transfiguration wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I just imagined that all the things I was supposed to Transfigure were Draco's head, and I did pretty well. I might have gotten marks off for having a maniac grin on my face the whole time, though.
Dumbledore returned! He finally arrived around the end of term, and took his rightful position as the headmaster. I can't deny being shaken up about what happened at the Department of Mysteries. I mean, the girls who'd been my best friends three years ago had been fighting there. But they came back nearly unharmed, except for the loss that hung on everybody's minds…the loss of Sirius. But on the bright side, (if there is a bright side) Lucius is in Azkaban.
Fred came to visit me through the fire on the second to last day of the term. We talked about Lord Voldemort, Sirius, Cedric, and everybody else, who were sure to suffer losses in the war.
"Doesn't this make you want to know how it's all going to end up?" I asked.
"No. Because then we'd live in fear of what's coming up, instead of facing each day as it comes," answered Fred.
"This is making us older," I said sadly and collapsed into an armchair.
"Makes it hard to believe that our biggest fear a couple of years ago was whether or not we'd fight each other," laughed Fred half-heartedly.
"Fred…you never did tell me why your boggart turned into me," I added.
"Umm…" he replied, looking worried. "George is calling my name. Gotta go!"
I reached towards the now normal flames and asked helplessly, "Fred?"
Right before I left Hogwarts forever, I went to talk to McGonagall, who had been like a mother figure to me for the past seven years. "Have you decided what career you're going to go for?" McGonagall asked.
"Do you really think I'd want to work for the Ministry after they've fought the truth and Harry for so long?" I laughed bitterly. "I think I'm going to work as a Curse Breaker."
McGonagall nodded, and we just stood there for a few seconds. We finally gave each other hugs, and started to cry silently. She'd been my favorite teacher, and I think I was, in a way, her favorite student.
I finally boarded to train, where I'd see my parents for the first time in nearly five years.
A/N: The last sentence is pretty important in upcoming chappies…foreshadowing. Hope you liked my bit with Fred and the fire, 'cuz that was my favorite part of this chappie!