Fred and George waited in the Gryffindor Common Room for Lee to get back from Hogsmeade. He had used one of the secret passages that led out of the school to make his journey which had the unfortunate side effect of taking much longer than if he had used the route used during the sanctioned weekend visits to the village.
"Finally," said Fred as Lee entered the Common Room. "We were starting to get worried."
"Sorry," said Lee, sitting down. He pulled the strap of a bag he was holding over his shoulder and placed it next to them on the ground. He looked around the room. It was rather busy but most people were too preoccupied with their own conversations to have noticed his arrival. "Took me ages to find Enoch, he was down at the Hog's Head."
"Merlin's Beard, he must be hard-up if that's where he's staying, or did he get thrown out of the Three Broomsticks?" asked George.
"He's staying at the Hog's Head," explained Lee, "because he thought that was the best way to get noticed by anyone dodgy."
"Sounds about right," said Fred, picturing the regular clientele of that particular establishment. "What did he say about Dumbledore leaving? Did he think Valek had anything to do with it?"
"He said that it's probably a coincidence but a good one."
"A good one?" said Fred frowning. "How is it possibly a good one?"
"Because Enoch said he was going to let everyone in the pub know that Dumbledore had gone for the night," said Lee.
"Again… how is that possibly good?" asked Fred.
"Because then Valek will most likely try and attack you tonight," said Lee.
"Did you bump your head on the way back?" said George. "It sounds like you think Valek attacking us is a good thing."
"No, Enoch explained it to me," said Lee, quickly. "The main probably we have is that we don't know when Valek is going to attack. We don't even know if he's around at the moment. But Enoch figures he at least has someone in Hogsmeade keeping an eye on things and passing him information. With Enoch back, and Dumbledore gone, tonight will be his best chance to attack all three of you at once."
"See, you're saying it like that's good. But attacking us is bad. You do understand that right?" said George.
"Is this your way of getting back at us for the Astronomy Tower slide thing we did?" asked Fred. "Because we said sorry about that."
"Actually you never said sorry for that," said Lee. "Anyway, the reason it's good is that if we know Valek is going to attack then we can get prepared."
"Well we have the unicorn horns here," said Fred, patting one of his pockets.
"Brilliant, what else did you get?" said Lee, eagerly.
"There's our wands…" said George, a little uncertainly.
"And?"
"That's pretty much it," said George.
"I thought you were going to get a whole bunch of things ready. What about potions?" asked Lee.
"We hit a bit of a snag there," admitted Fred. "Snape has been really alert during his lessons so we weren't able to steal any ingredients that we could use."
"That's okay," said Lee, picking up the bag he had brought back from Hogsmeade. He opened it up to show the twins. It contained a number of small bottles, each filled with a different coloured liquid. "Enoch gave these to me. All the potions we could need."
"Nice one," said Fred, turning the nearest bottle so he could read the label. "Ooo Strength Potion, that's mine."
"There's enough for everyone," said Lee, closing the bag. "We can go through them later when the room is empty."
"Right, so we have the horns, our wands and the potions. I think we're all set," said Fred.
"That's not all we have," said George, looking rather pleased with himself. "I had an idea for weapons."
"We're not doing that," said Fred, shaking his head.
"Not doing what?" asked Lee, looking between the twins.
"They're easy to make, easy to use, and we have all the parts we need," complained George.
"For what?" repeated Lee.
"He wants to fill our socks with a bunch of marbles so we have some kind of marble sock thing we can hit Valek over the head with," said Fred.
"Well that's…" Lee looked at George, "… certainly an idea."
"See? Lee likes it," said George, smugly.
"He didn't like it. He thinks it's as dumb as I do," said Fred. "Do you have any idea how close you'll need to get to Valek to actually hit him with it?"
"It's still better than any weapon you came up with."
"I didn't come up with a weapon."
"Exactly."
"No I mean I came up with the idea of using armour."
"Armour?" said Lee, raising his eyebrows.
"We're in a castle. There's armour all around," said Fred, waving a hand in the air. "Stick on some armour and boom, he can't stab us with a knife."
"No, but he could use his wand to make the armour shrink and crush us to death," said George. "Plus you know how heavy those things are, we wouldn't be able to move very fast."
"Still," mumbled Fred, sulkily. "Better idea than marble-sock."
"How about we just go with Enoch's plan?" said Lee.
"Oh he actually has a plan? You should have said something earlier," scolded George.
"Enoch's plan is to lure Valek away from the school down to the Quidditch pitch. He's heading down there now to start putting in traps and enchantments that'll help him during his fight."
"What about us?" said George.
"We're to stay here."
"That's a crap plan," scoffed Fred. He tapped the bag containing the potions with his foot. "Why did he give us all of these if he didn't want us to fight?"
"He said they were to be used if…" Lee trailed off uncertain how to finish the sentence.
"He loses," said George, shaking his head.
"What make him think he can even spot Valek in the first place? There's any number of ways he could get into the school," said Fred.
"He thinks that Valek will probably try and get to the school through the forest. Valek has probably never set foot in the castle before so Enoch doesn't think he would know about the secret tunnels. Once he sets his traps he's going to go to the East Bell Tower, that'll give him the best view of anyone coming out of the forest," explained Lee. "Once he spots him, he can intercept him and lead him to the Quidditch pitch."
"That's it? What if he doesn't spot him, then what?" complained Fred. "We need to talk to Enoch."
"Good luck with that," said Lee. "Mrs Norris is right outside the Fat Lady's portrait. There's no way you can sneak passed her at the moment."
"Pfft," said Fred, dismissively waving his hand as he stood up. He made his way towards the exit. "If you think that mangy old fleabag could…"
"Where are you going?" said Alicia, looking up from her notes which she was skimming to check through the answers she had given on an earlier test.
"I was just…"
"No chance," said Angelina. "Two days. We have two days until our match against Ravenclaw. So for those two days neither you or your brother are going to do anything that could land you in detention."
"Oh come on," complained Fred.
"She's right Fred," said Oliver, looking rather proud of Angelina. "You can't do anything that might jeopardise our chances of bringing home that trophy."
"I was only…"
"Fred, put it this way," said Angelina, smirking evilly. "Either you move away from the door and sit back down, or we'll wrestle you to the ground and sit on you until it's time to go to bed."
As if to emphasise her point, a number of the larger sixth and seventh year students stood up and crossed their arms while glaring at Fred.
"Alright, alright, keep your hair on," said Fred, holding his hands up. He sat back down next to his brother. "New plan, we wait for everyone else to go to sleep."
Slowly, over the course of the evening, the room emptied out as people drifted off to bed. Soon the only occupants were Lee, the twins, their brother Ron and his friends Harry and Hermione. Fred and George excused themselves and took the bag of potions to their room so they could see just what they had while Lee remained in the Common Room to let them know once the others had left.
"Right we have two Strength potions, three Speed ones, an Endurance one…" whispered Fred, reading from the labels. "You'd think he'd use the proper names for the potions rather than just labelling them 'strength', 'speed' and 'endurance'. Look at this one 'makes things bigger – don't drink,' we know what an Engorgio potion is for Godric's sake. Oh we have two of these ones."
"What's it say?" asked George
"Make sure to take between potions," said Fred.
"Must be a Restoration potion to cancel the effects of the others."
"Why cancel them? Surely being strong and fast is a good thing."
"Potions react with each other. There's no telling what could happen if you took two at once. And no, now is not the time to try and find out. Hey Lee, is the coast clear?"
"No," said Lee, who had just entered the room. "Harry, Ron and Hermione are still up, and don't show any signs of getting tired. I say we just keep an eye on them with the Marauders' map and wait until they go to bed."
"Good idea," said George, he nodded at the desk next to his bed, "it's in there."
"What have we got?" said Lee, once he'd retrieved the map. "Anything useful?"
"No really," said Fred, waving a hand over the bottles. "I'd say Enoch is keeping the good stuff for himself."
"Well he is the one planning on fighting Valek," said Lee. He looked down at the Marauders' Map. "Oh, Harry's on the move. Just the other two to go… oh three. Neville Longbottom is down in the Common Room as well. Didn't even notice him. Looks like Enoch has finished down at the Quidditch pitch, he's already up at the Bell Tower."
"Right, as soon as the Common Room is clear we head down," said Fred.
"Merlin's Beard, now Harry's back," said Lee, shaking his head. "At this rate it'll never be empty. Hang on. It looks like… yep. Harry, Ron and Hermione have just left."
"Right, Longbottom won't be far behind," said Fred, starting to put the potions back into the bag. "Took them long enough to get tired."
"No, I don't mean they've gone to bed," said Lee. "I mean they've left the Tower. They've gone into the school."
"Seriously?" said George, looking over at the map. "Well, well. Nice one Ron. Good to know he's not following in Percy's footsteps."
"Wonder where they are going?"
"Probably just exploring the castle like we used to," said Fred. "Come on, we need to get to Enoch."
"The corridor is clear but Neville is still in the Common Room," said Lee.
"He'll be fine, he just watched the other three leave so it's not like he'll mind us going," said Fred.
The three boys made their way down to the Common Room where they found Neville lying prone on the floor.
"Er… are you okay?" said George, looking down at the boy. Neville didn't move.
"Looks like a full Body-Bind curse," said Lee, after a few seconds. He dug out his wand and performed the counter-cure to remove the effects from Neville's body.
"T-t-thanks," said Neville, as they helped him to his feet.
"What happened?" asked Fred.
"It's Harry, Hermione and Ron," explained Neville. "They went through the portrait. They're going to get Gryffindor into more trouble we have to stop them."
"Sorry Neville, but we've got our own thing to do," said George, slapping a hand on the younger boy's shoulder.
"Wait, you were heading outside as well?" asked Neville. "You can't. We have to go and get the others and bring them back here. Then we all stay inside the Tower."
"It's not that simple…" began Fred.
"Yes it is. It's easy not to break the rules. We just stay inside," said Neville, raising his voice.
"Well I suppose there is one easy solution," said George, looking over at Lee and nodding towards the first year.
"And what's that?" Neville asked. He looked at George, then to Fred, then began to turn to look at Lee.
"Petrificus Totalus!" said Lee, pointing his wand at Neville.
"Not again," managed Neville before his arms and legs went stiff as a board. He toppled forward and Fred and George caught his body before it hit the ground. They gently lowered him onto the floor before turning him over onto his back.
"Sorry about this," said George.
"Here, this'll help," said Fred, taking a cushion from one of the chairs and placing it under the boy's head. "Sorry."
"Sorry," added Lee, before the three boys made their way out the Fat Lady's portrait.
The trio made their way through the school using the secret corridors and pathways for the quickest route down to the East Bell Tower. With their wands out and illuminating the way, every shadow cast by a statue or ornament looked like a potential enemy ready to attack. They only relaxed once they reached the Tower.
"He's not here," said Lee, looking around.
"Must be on the battlements outside," said Fred. He pointed towards a door. "This way."
The door led to a corridor that in turn led to a tightly spiralling stone staircase which led out onto the battlements that ran either side of the two Bell Tower. They stepped through the door into the outside air.
"Don't move, or I'll curse you," commanded a voice.
"It's just us," said Fred, holding his hands up. George and Lee poked their heads out to the side behind him.
"Merlin's Beard," said the voice, which turned out to belong to Enoch. "What are you three doing here?"
"We're your back-up," said George, waving his wand.
"I already have my back-up," said Enoch, nodding over his shoulder. Behind him on the battlements stood the Auror, Lexington, and Miro. Miro was busy looking through a telescope so only acknowledged them with an offhanded wave.
"Extinguish those wands," commanded Lexington. "Do you want everyone to spot us?"
"Sorry," said Fred as he turned off the light from his wand. George and Lee did the same.
"I told you to tell them to stay inside Gryffindor House," Enoch said to Lee.
"That's what I said, but you know what they are like," said Lee.
"We didn't know they would be here," said Fred, pointing at Lexington and Miro. "We didn't want you fighting on your own."
"That's commendable," admitted Enoch. "Commendable, but foolish."
"Sounds about right," said Lee, under his breath.
"You've got to get back to your House straight away before Valek arrives," said Enoch. "It'll be dangerous for anyone to be out tonight especially children."
"There might be a problem with that," said Fred. "There's at least three other students in the school."
"What? Who?" said Enoch, rubbing his forehead.
"Some first years, probably just exploring the castle now that the exams are over," said George.
"Right, well you need to find them and get them to safety…" started Enoch.
"I see something," said Miro, still looking through the telescope. He handed it to Lexington and pointed. "Over there, just coming out of the Forest now."
"Can't tell from this distance but I'd bet my last Galleon that's him," said Lexington. He handed the telescope to Enoch, pulled himself up onto the battlements and stepped off the edge.
"What in Godric's name…?" baulked George. He craned his neck over the side fully expecting to see Lexington smashed on the stones below, instead he watched as the Auror floated the last few feet to the ground and landed safely on his feet.
"Feather-Fall Spell," explained Miro, taking out his wand. "It's rather tricky, I heard one wizard tried it but was only half successful. Ended up conjuring a bunch of feathers."
"Which he landed in safely?" said Lee, sounding hopeful.
"Which were used to help mop up the blood," said Miro. He too climbed up and pitched himself over the side of the battlements.
"I've got to go," said Enoch. He handed Fred the telescope. "You can keep an eye on us with this. We'll lure him over to the Quidditch pitch. From here you should be able to spot us all the way until we get to the pitch. When we kill him we'll send up red sparks. If you see anyone coming towards the school from the pitch before you see red sparks… that means it's Valek and that probably means it's not good news for us. If that happens get those first years and get back into Gryffindor House, using the paintings to send a message to the teachers and stay inside. He can't get passed the Fat Lady without a password. But you'll need to be quick. He won't know the layout of the castle but he's met you and that means he knows what you smell like and that's enough for him to be able to track you down."
"We should help…" said George but his uncle cut him off.
"This is helping, you'll be helping those first years," said Enoch. "Please do this. I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you. Best of luck."
"You too," said Fred, as Enoch vaulted the battlements and disappeared into the night. Fred held the telescope up to his eye. "I can see them and Valek too. Damn, looks like he avoided going near the Whomping Willow, that would have made everyone's life easier if he'd walked into that."
"Here," said George, taking out the Marauders' Map. "We can track them on this as well."
He activated the map and stared at it for a few moment. "Yep, there's Enoch and the others. Valek's not showing but that's not surprising since the map must count as direct magic."
"That's okay I've got my eyes on him," advised Fred.
"We have another problem," said Lee, examining the map with his friend.
"Just the one?" asked Fred, continuing to look through the telescope.
"Yes but this one has three heads. You remember that giant dog we found?"
"Yep, old three-head himself," said Fred.
"Well guess where Ron and his friends are?" said Lee, tapping the parchment with his finger.
"I'm guessing not back in their beds in Gryffindor Tower," sighed Fred.
"Not even close," said George, shaking his head. "It'll scare them off, hopefully."
"Or they'll disappear," said Lee. The three footprints that had shown Ron, Harry and Hermione had just vanished from the page. "That can't be good can it?"
"You don't think it… ate them?" said George, looking extremely pale all of a sudden.
"No," said Lee, quickly. He pointed at the map. "Look, that's the dog…called Fluffy. Seriously, Fluffy? Anyway, before they disappeared there was a bunch of tiny zees above his head. That means he was asleep just before they went. They must have found something in that room that hasn't been mapped so they don't appear on it. Trust me, they're fine. Just missing and probably trapped there now that Fluffy is awake. But still safe."
"While a crazy, immune to magic, assassin is on the school premises," clarified George.
"Yeah, when you say it like that it doesn't sound too good."
"Looks like Enoch is about to reach Valek," said Fred, pointing his finger.
George and Lee stood up and looked over in the direction Fred had indicated. Between the distance and the fact that it was night, they didn't hold up much hope of spotting anything without the use of the telescope, but even this far away they were still able to see the bright red and green flashes of magic as Enoch and Valek started fighting.
"How's he doing?" asked Lee as the lights continued.
"Can't really tell," admitted Fred. "They are too far away and moving too quickly to work out who is winning, but it looks like Enoch is retreating towards the Quidditch pitch like he planned. Miro and Lexington are already on their way over."
Eventually Enoch made it all the way to the Quidditch pitch and disappeared from Fred's view. George and Lee went back to looking at the Marauders' Map to see if they could disseminate any clues on the progress of the fight, while Fred continued to keep an eye on the pitch itself even though he could only see the outside of the stadium.
"I think they have him surrounded," said Lee, pointing at the map. Only the names of Enoch, Lexington and Miro appeared but they seemed to be spread out in a triangle in the centre of the pitch.
"Come on," muttered George under his breath.
"What was that?" exclaimed Fred, lowering the telescope. A bright white flash has just emanated from the Quidditch pitch which was accompanied by an ear-splitting cracking sound.
"One of Enoch's traps?" said Lee.
"Probably," nodded George. "Who knows what he put there?"
"I think I see something," said Fred. He adjusted the telescope. "Yes, someone definitely coming towards the school from the Quidditch pitch."
"It's him," said George, solemnly. He tapped his finger on the map. The names of Enoch, Lexington and Miro were clustered together in the centre of the pitch. "It's Valek. He's coming for us."