It was true; Harry didn't have sudden strokes of brilliance when he and Ron truly needed them. He was reminded of this in History of Magic, when his and Ron's sons started doing impressions of the future Harry and Ron. He ignored them and tried to make his mind completely blank as he half-listened to Professor Binns drone on and on about the Goblin Rebellion of 1636.
"The…gob…lins…in…sixteen…hundred….and thirty…six…were led by…the goblin…Ollamand the Old…"
Come on, Harry, Harry found himself thinking. There has to be something you haven't thought of.
"…but…luckily…Ministry officials…were able…to sort…it out…be…fore…any fighting…could…break…out…"
There's something, there's something. There HAS to be something! There HAS-my God, Binns is boring.
"…but…when…goblin…demands were…not met…the rebellion started…up again…Shortly…after…wards…their leader…Ollamand the Old…died."
"Our dad's probably think that just because they never got in trouble at school, we shouldn't either."
That one sentence had just popped up again in the back of Harry's mind. It had appeared so suddenly that when it came up, Harry had jolted.
There was something wrong with the sentence. Harry and Ron always got in to trouble. They'd had detention more than once in their five years at Hogwarts. And if they had detention, there was bound to be records of it. And if there were records of it, they had to be somewhere in the school.
The bell rang at the end of class, jolting Harry from his thoughts, but he knew what he and Ron would have to do now. He nudged Ron in the ribs on their way out the door and instead of turning toward the Great Hall for lunch, the two walked up the stairs back to the dormitory.
"We always get in trouble," Harry said to Ron once they reached the dormitory. Ron had a blank look on his face.
"I know that," he said uncertainly. Harry sighed.
"Ron said that his dad and Harry's dad never got in trouble at school. But if you do get in trouble, you usually get detention-" A look of dawning comprehension came on Ron's face.
"-and if you get in detention," said Ron. "they keep a detention record. You're brilliant mate!"
"Don't be saying I'm brilliant, yet," said Harry. "there's a problem with getting the detention records. Where do you think they're kept?" Ron's smile slid off his face. The two friends had no idea where they might be kept, but with their luck, they were in Filch's office. However, Harry and Ron still found themselves walking out of the dormitory a few minutes later with the map checking for Filch.
"Looks like he's up near the hospital wing with Mrs. Norris," said Harry. He gave the map a tap and erased it and turned to Filch's locked office door. "How do we get in?" Harry whispered to Ron.
"How should I know?" Ron whispered back. "Do I look like I go around breaking in to offices?"
"Come on. He's a Squib, he probably doesn't even have Alohomora on it."
"Well he could have some type of magical lock that he bought at Dervish and Banges."
"You just thought of this now?"
"Yes, I did, is that a-"
"What are you boys doing?"
A new face and voice had come in to the conversation. Harry and Ron whipped their heads around so fast to see who it was that they had fallen back on the floor. Noreen Lupin (sporting long, curly, pink hair today) laughed and helped the two of them up off the floor.
"So what are you two doing?" Noreen asked again. Harry and Ron exchanged glances.
"Nothing," they said unconvincingly. Noreen nodded.
"You were trying to break in to Filch's office, weren't you?" she asked, amused.
"We weren't trying to break in there," said Harry waving his hand as if to say she was mad to think so.
"Not at all," said Ron. "That'd be stupid." Noreen raised an eyebrow at the two. Ron broke down. "Okay we were-Ouch!" Harry had kicked him in the shins.
"I don't care," said Noreen. "I won't even ask why. I'll even keep a look out. By the way, it isn't magically locked. Just use Alohomora."
"Right," said Harry. He tapped the lock and whispered the spell. A click told him it had worked. "We'll try not to take to long."
"We've been in loads of trouble!" whispered Ron when they entered the dingy office. "We should have a drawer! Fred and George still have theirs!" It was true. One of the drawers was still dedicated to the Weasley twins, long after they left Hogwarts. Harry busied himself checking one
"Nott…Perkins…Potter! I found me! Wait, no, it's all my dad. I'm not in here…I haven't even heard of half of these hexes he's used! Why would you even bother to swell somebody's head up?"
"I'm not in here either," said Ron. "It's only Fred and George and occasionally Charlie. Then there's my kid (Ron shuddered slightly) your kid and Fred and George's kids, but nobody else! This is useless, let's get out of here." They both sighed and left Filch's office, locking the door behind them.
"So, what were you two trying to find?" Noreen asked curiously. A small second year girl with fiery sped past them suddenly, clutching a broomstick.
"Oi! Gaby!" The girl, Gaby, screeched to a halt. Noreen wore an amused expression. "Is that your brother's broomstick?"
"Yes," said Gaby. "but I have a good reason for taking it." Noreen laughed.
"Just make sure to hide it in a place Harry can't find it this time," she warned. Gaby nodded and sped off. Harry felt his stomach drop. Gaby was another one of his children.
"That's the last of the Weasley clan you'll meet," said Noreen. "The rest of them are still at home, although there should be about six of them coming next year I believe. Anyway, what were you looking for?" Ron and Harry exchanged nervous glances.
"Nothing important," said Harry.
"Yeah," said Ron. "It's for a, er…project."
"We should go-"
"A project involved breaking in to Filch's office?" Noreen inquired. Harry sighed.
"No," he admitted. "Harry and Ron mentioned that their dad's never got in to trouble at school and we just wanted to see if it was true. But there's no detention records of them in there. I don't know where to look-"
"McGonagall used to head of Gryffindor house when their dad's went to school," Noreen interrupted. "I know the were in Gryffindor so maybe the records are still in Professor Mason's office. Come on," Noreen started sprinting up staircases, Harry and Ron behind her. Once they reached the Transfiguration classroom, Noreen halted and pulled out a long piece of flesh-colored string.
"Extendable Ears," Ron said automatically. Noreen nodded.
"Very useful. Okay, go!" The Extendable Ear snaked under the door. After a few moments, Noreen hastily tugged it back out again.
"That woman is never out of that office!" Noreen said angrily. "Come on, to the dungeons, we'll check there." But there were no detention records for Harry and Ron down in the dungeons, or in the Astronomy Tower, or anywhere. It seemed that they would have to try and find a time that Professor Mason wasn't in her office. The two knew that the task itself would be easier said than done.