A/N: Written for the QLFC Finals Round 2—Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Team: Montrose Magpies.

CAPTAIN: Comb-A-Chameleon

Also written for Hogwarts Assignment 5 Herbology Task #2: Write about a character who keeps on going despite numerous previous hardships.
Extra Prompts: 3. (Word) crooked, 6. (Colour) cyanide

Set in fifth year just after the start of the school year.

Beta Pranking

Hermione let out an exasperated huff as she ripped down the Weasley Brothers advertisement from the common-room notice board.
"They are the limit. We'll have to talk to them, Ron," she said.
Ron didn't even look at her as he asked, "Why?"
"We're prefects! And they're your brothers, Ron!"
"So? I don't mind. Go talk to them for all I care," Ron scoffed and walked out of the common-room.
Hermione glared after him, then spotted Harry coming towards the notice board. "Harry! Come, we're going to have to talk some sense in those ginger menaces."
"What? Why me?" Harry asked, bewildered.
"Harry! Come!" Hermione all but ordered, already stomping towards the boys' stairs. Harry followed, his shoulders stooped.
"Fred and George! You need to stop!" Hermione yelled as she swung open the door to their bedroom. The two gingers in question were huddled over one of their trunks but looked up immediately at the fifth year students who had invaded their room.
"Why if it isn't Miss Prefect and her boyfriend," Fred said.
"How about a knock next time? We could've been immodest," George added.
"We're not dating, and you always are," Hermione dead-panned. "But that's not the issue. You, you can't just enlist testers!"
"Oh, is that what it is about?" Fred asked. "Why ever not?"
"It's against the rules!" Hermione all but yelled in their faces. "And as a prefect I—"
"Hear that, brother mine? Miss Hermione is a Percy," George said, rolling his eyes dramatically. "So, 'Miss Percy'—"
"Prefect," Hermione said through clenched teeth.
"That's what I said," George continued unfazed. "So, what exactly is wrong with that? We need testers for our products, and some firsties can earn a few Knuts by helping us."
"You can't risk them like that!" Hermione yelled. "I won't allow it and neither will the other prefects!"
"We do need testers, though," said Fred. "If we can't use firsties, are you volunteering?"
"What? Me?" Harry asked. Hermione whirled around to face him, having completely forgotten she had dragged him up there with him.
George beamed at the idea. "Excellent idea, Harry-kins! You and 'Miss Percy' here—"
"Prefect!" Hermione shrieked.
"—are the perfect testers for our latest product," George continued. As he spoke Fred had ducked down into the trunk and surfaced holding two combs.
"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes proudly presents the Comb-a-Chameleon," the twins said in unison, as Fred handed a comb to the two younger students.
"A comb? What does it do?" Harry asked.
"Why Harry, it combs your hair," Fred said, grinning. Holding off a protest from either he added, "And that's not all it does, it also instantly changes your hair style. Just run it through your hair once and, insto-presto, a new look."
Hermione and Harry looked at the combs quizzically, then Harry reached up and combed it through his hair. "Well? How do I look?" Harry asked.
The twins were silent for a moment, until they started sniggering… Hermione on the other hand looked pale, then red, then furious. "Harry! You're bald!"
"What?" Harry reached up, panicking as he could not find any hair. "What happened?"
"Looks like we have a few bugs to iron out," Fred said.
"Looks like it. Don't worry, Harry, it will grow back… for now we're late for breakfast," George added.
Harry was too preoccupied by his missing hair to do anything and Hermione was still too shocked to respond as the twin menaces fled their bedroom.
"Don't worry, Harry, I'll guide you to the Hospital Wing. I'm sure Madam Pomfrey can help you," Hermione tried to placate her friend. "And when I find those twins, they'll wish they'd never been born!"
They left the combs behind.

Madam Pomfrey couldn't help, so Harry had to sit through a lot of ridicule that day since Professors Snape and Umbridge refused to let him wear a hat, but at least his mortification helped keep his temper down and he managed to make it through the day without a detention. The Weasley twins were smart enough to stay out of sight of both of them until curfew, so it wasn't until the next morning that Hermione dragged Harry back up to their bedroom to confront them.
"Fred! George! You owe Harry an apology!" she yelled as she threw open the door.
"Good morning to you, too, Hermio-Percy," Fred said, yawning as he stretched, standing in the middle of the room.
"What did you just call me?" Hermione asked, venom on her voice.
"Never mind that lout," George interrupted, then looking Harry over, "See? It grew back, Harry. Apologies for the mishap, but that is why we needed testers."
"It's okay," Harry mumbled.
"Good man," George said, smiling. "See, Fred? Our fellow rule breaker has a good sense of humour."
"Speaking of, try these ones, Har-har, Her-her," Fred said, picking up two new combs and throwing them to the pair.
Harry reached up to grab his, but Hermione was not so alert and the comb hit her on the head, getting tangled in her unruly curls.
"You two! I should report you to Professor McGonagall!" Hermione yelled, pulling the comb out of her hair.
The three men in the room gazed at her.
"What is it? Do you finally see reason?" Hermione demanded, her hands on her hips as she clenched the comb in her right one.
"Blonde is not your colour, Hermione dear," Fred said, a crooked smile starting to form on his face.
"Although corn-rows are cute, in a way," George added.
"It's not that bad, I guess?" Harry added, earning an angry glare as Hermione stomped pass the trio and went inside the adjacent bathroom.
"Good luck, Harry-kins," George said as he and Fred rushed past him, just as an enraged shriek was heard emanating from the other room. By the time the now blonde and very short-haired Hermione left the room she could only find Harry still standing there, and the poor guy got the full brunt of her frustration as she yelled about irresponsible pranksters.

Another annoying day of classes followed, but this time Hermione was the one being made fun of. Harry earned a detention from Professor Umbridge when she caught him pulling his wand on Malfoy after the Slytherin made a nasty comment to the former brunette, and Hermione refused to leave her bedroom after classes were over, so it was yet again the following morning before she dragged Harry over to confront the twins.
She was already yelling before she pulled their door open: "Fred and George! You are in so much trouble you—"
The reason she fell silent was that both twins were for once easy to tell apart… Fred had a cyanide Mohawk, whereas George was sporting a purple Pompadour.
"Hermione! Harry! Just the duo we wanted to see," Fred said, beaming happily. "We ironed out the bugs, see? Here, you try!"
He threw two new combs at the two. This time Hermione stepped out of the way, letting the one intended for her fall on the ground.
"If you think even for one second we're dumb enough to use it, you've got another think coming," she scoffed at the two. "Right, Harry?"
As she turned to face her friend, she face-palmed. Harry was in the process of combing his hair with the prank product.
"Honestly, Harry?" she said, sighing. To her surprise though, when Harry pulled the comb out his hair, it had managed to tame his famously impossible hair into a neat, business-like haircut.
"Well? How bad do I look?" Harry asked.
"Not… not bad at all," Hermione said, disbelievingly. "You really look good, Harry… George! Fred! Explain!" The latter was aimed at the twins, who still stood there grinning.
"It's easy, Prefectmione," George started, ignoring her glare. "The Comb-a-Chameleon will change the user's hair to a new hairstyle that they think looks good on them! It's really brilliant, even if I do say so myself."
"Why thank you, George, I'm proud I thought of it," Fred added.
"You mean, I thought of it," George.
"No, I—"
"Enough!" Hermione stopped them, stomping her foot for extra emphasis. "If it works, explain yourselves!" She indicated their haircuts with her right hand, still clutching the comb.
"Easy, I like how it looks," said Fred.
"You look classier than ever, brother," George agreed.
Hermione face-palmed once more as the twins walked past them both, sporting ridiculous haircuts and wide grins.