Deep in the heart of Hogwarts, Harry and Hermione played in a thick green maze, darting back and forth, laughing uproariously. Sometimes Harry tried to throw a spell, sometimes Hermione hissed back a curse (magic or no). And then they turned and played hide and go seek. Harry at some point managed to jump on Hermione, and she fell to the ground, "Buck Buck I win!" Harry said, laughing.
"Great job, Fat Albert," Hermione said with some bite, but nothing could defeat Harry's ecstatic mood.
From all around them echoed the tinny beeping of a pocket watch. With a sigh, the world around them dissolved.
As they opened their eyes, they found themselves in Hogwarts again, in a dusty old classroom on the floor. "Hey, nobody fell over this time!"
"All thanks to you..."
The teachers all wore slight frowns, except for Snape, who was his usual gruff self. Harry had the odd feeling that the world could be on fire, the giant Squid could be infiltrating Hogwarts, and Snape's manner would not change one whit.
They were pused to pranks, to small things gone wrong for a laugh.
This was different. Small injuries, but a plague of them, all over the school.
Harry'd seen Snape dragging a tall Gryffindor girl into the infirmary, her face darkened with the remains of an explosion.
The Twins were solving the first part of the puzzle.
And it was driving the teachers - and the Prefects, completely batty.
Harry was working on a third year charm, understanding the wand movements, when someone cut off his light. Looking up, he saw a familiar redheaded back of the head.
Twin George/Fred said: "This is spreading more madness than our pranks!"
"How can we thank you, General of Chaos?"
"When you've finished your list, we'll have to think of some way to counterspell the jinx, won't we?" Harry grinned. "I bet we could come up with something creative."
"We're on it, high lord of comedy."
[a/n: No, I'm not going the Champion of comedy route. Leave a rview]