Chapter 4: A Prank and a Retreat

Nikki and I had been busy tweaking my well-laid plans. We researched about lengthening the effect of the Polyjuice Potion, how to act like Fred and George, and how to get the Gryffindor common room password. We had almost everything going for us. The only problem, believe it or not, was the unwilling victims themselves.

"Pssst! Pssst!"

Ianthé looked to where the noise came from. "What are you guys doing near our common room?"

"Well, we just wanted to ask…"

"… if you're up for a bit of pranking…"

"… to add a bit of fun…."

"… before the first Quidditch match."

"You guys are making me dizzy… Wait, you want me, a future if not present prank competitor, to join you in your late night prowlings?"

The red-headed twins nodded.

We walked through a very dark and silent corridor. One of the twins was holding a parchment of some kind. I only caught a glimpse of it. It was an enchanted map of the entire school, with dots representing each person. With this map, I realized my plan would backfire on me. I got to get my hands on that map, but I knew it would be pretty hard. We had fun that night terrorizing Mrs. Norris, the poor cat. We almost had a bit of a run-in with Hogwarts' resident poltergeist, Peeves. It felt exhilarating, being out-of-bounds late at night doing countless misdeeds.

"The plan won't work," Ianthé whispered to Nikki the next morning, "I repeat, Plan Red is a no-go."

"Why? What happened to you last night? I was worried when you didn't return to the common room after going to the library." Nikki asked as they sat down for breakfast.

"I was with the twins last night."

Suddenly, about a handful Slytherins' hairs were transformed to snakes, resembling them to Medusa.

Nikki looked at the Slytherin table with scrutiny, "Oh… that…"

Ianthé nodded, "I also found out how they can evade Filch or even a professor."

"What's their secret?"

"A map of Hogwarts."

"Excuse me? How can a map help them from being caught?"
"It's not just a map. It's an enchanted map, detailing every person and where they are… They seemed to have a password to the map. I saw one of the twins whispering something while tapping the map."

"So, do you have a back-up plan for that?"

Ianthé shook her head. Hey, I know I am a super organizer but I can't seem to remember formulating a Plan B!

"We must not let our Polyjuice go to waste…"

"Did we hear correctly? Polyjuice?"

Darn it! The people we were talking about suddenly materialized out of thin air!

Ianthé smiled at Fred and George, "I have a plan!"

One of the twins raised his eyebrows.

"But not here, meet us tonight, near the statue of the sorcerer with a broken nose."

The twins nodded and immediately left.

Nikki looked at Ianthé, "What are you planning?"
Ianthé sighed, "If we can't beat them, join them."