Chapter Five: Let the Prank War Begin
Lena Malfoy's P.O.V
I was on pins and needles all throughout the day. Carter and the others were whispering darkly to each other all throughout Charms. I saw with satisfaction and a tiny twinge of guilt that the Granger mudblood's hair was about three inches shorter. It seemed that though Carter was majorly peeved, she also was extremely pleased that she had an excuse to be a part of whatever was coming next. Between expeditious conversation, she dyed the ends of her own hair a deep blue. Who would've thought that the mudblood had a fashion streak? Brook, though not targeted in last night's prank, was completely immersed in conversation. I grinned, and waited for when she realized that the prank that targeted her was being put into motion.
Brook McGonagall's P.O.V
It was after lunch time when I noticed something was up.
"Ginny" I hissed out of the corner of my mouth. She jumped, startled and slipped a notebook back into her bag.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"You know Crabbe and Goyle?" I asked.
"Yeah."
"Is it just me or have they been staring at me for a while?" Ginny looked discreetly over at them.
"Yeah, it's not just you," Carter chimed in."They've been staring at you for the past half hour, which is, incidentally, when Lena walked over to talk to her brother at lunch." I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Damn her." I muttered under my breath. I went to Herbology with a sinking feeling that increased when I saw that Crabbe and Goyle were pressed up against the greenhouse glass, practically salivating. What they were doing out of class though, I had no idea. Lena was bent over her mandrake, overcome with a fit of giggles. I facepalmed.
At dinner I was assaulted by the two. They walked up to my table.
"What?" I snapped, drumming my wand into my other palm, itching to curse them. They turned a shade of crimson, muttering incoherently. "That's what I thought." I said, spinning around. I ignored them with incredible self control, and tried to preserve my dignity. Lena ducked under the table, tears streaming down her face in a vain attempt to not laugh. After five minutes I felt like I couldn't ignore them any longer.
"Are you still there?" I asked, not turning around. More mumbling.
"I'll put it in terms you can wrap your Nethandral brains around. GO AWAY, OR I'LL HEX YOU INTO OBLIVIATION!" I stood up to face them. Crabbe wore a stupid smile.
"I love it when you talk tough." I was dumbfounded.
"It sounds so cute in her accent." agreed Goyle. At this point the Gryffindor table was laughing uproariously. I didn't bother with magic. I punched Crabbe in the face, feeling his stupid nose break under my fist.
"HELENA BROOKLYN McGONAGALL!" shouted my aunt, looking furious. Crabbe stumbled backwards, a goofy grin on his face, blood trickling down his face. The Gryffindor table howled. Aunt McGonagall marched towards me, wearing her most stern expression. Both Crabbe and I were marched out of the Hall. Madame Pomfrey gave me a very evil glare as she rushed him off to the infirmary.
"I am very disappointed in you." she hissed. "I had to work very hard to get you into this school, and you're throwing away that chance if you continue to behave like this." Her words hit me like a punch in the stomach.
"But-"
"There's nothing else to say. I'm giving you a detention on Monday in hopes this will teach you a lesson." I sulked away, vowing revenge on Lena Malfoy.
Carter Holmes's P.O.V
"Order, order!" I shouted. We were having a war council in a quiet corner of the common room. Or at least it was quiet. Everyone from our dormitory with the exclusion of Lena was there, with the addition of the Weasley twins. They were identical down to the last freckle. They grinned at me.
"Look George, the ickle firstie is giving orders!" Fred crooned mockingly.
"So adorable when they try to take charge." agreed his twin. I glared, and though they continued to smile, they backed down.
"I think we all know why we're here. The Malfoy girl needs to be punished. Not only did she braid Rebecca, Ginny and I to the wall, she spiked Crabbe and Goyle's lunch with love potion, so they are now infatuated with Brook." Fred and George had stopped smiling at the mention of the prank on their sister, but they looked rather admiring of her pranks.
"A girl after my own heart." said George. Ginny frowned.
"So, what do you want to do to her? We've got half a can of itching powder left over."
I nodded in approval.
"That might work, though she'll be expecting a direct attack. I was thinking we would do two pranks, one to make her let her guard down, and then, when she's not expecting it, go in and hit her with another prank." Fred and George nodded in approval, looking impressed.
"Also," I continued, "Do we want to target her, or someone close to her?"
"Like who?" asked Fred.
"As far as I can see, there are two targets. Her cat, Stella, or her brother, Draco. To do something bad to Stella would be animal cruelty, so we would have to prank Draco, which I'm more than sure Harry and Ronald would be more than happy to help us with." I glanced over at the aforementioned pair. Looks of pure yearning for the blood of a certain blonde were on their faces.
"Definitely." The two responded.
A battle plan began to take shape, a work of art that depended on timing, luck, and following my instructions to the letter. I grinned. Lena wouldn't know what hit her.
Lena Malfoy's P.O.V
I walked out of the great hall feeling smug. A day had gone by and I hadn't been pranked. I realized that the mudblood with the 'genius' father wasn't as smart as I'd thought, though probably had decided that if she kept it on the down low she could surprise me. I had been on pins and needles all day, so she would have to be extremely good to catch me off guard. I walked up the grand staircase and hoped over the vanishing step, which I had discovered on the second day of school on my way to meet Draco at the lake. The closer I got to the dorm the tenser I got. If I was correct, and the Holmes girl was indeed trying to lure me into a false sense of security, the prank was probably being put into action at that very minute. As soon as these thoughts had formed I heard whispering behind a portrait next to me. I stood in front of it and the whispering got quieter, until I heard footsteps rushing away from me and farther into the passage. I opened the portrait and dashed through, chasing after them, as the prank was definitely in the corridor behind me. After a while I realized that the whispers were gone and that I should probably head back to the dorm, but when I turned around there was nothing but solid wall. That was when I realized that I had fallen for the prank, hook, line,and sinker and that now I was in a secret passage with no apparent way out. I continued on my way forward as that was the only way to go. After I had traveled down the corridor for what seemed like ages I came to an open painting and relieved I clambered out of it. There waiting for me was none other than Peeves the poltergeist. He smiled at me wickedly and pointed his finger at me I ducked expecting a direct hit but instead he sealed the passage behind me.
"Peeves" I whispered dangerously, "let me go or face the consequences".
"Silly girl," he smirked. " You don't scare me." he knocked down several knights and bellowed furiously, " STUDENTS OUT OF BED! FIFTH FLOOR CORRIDOR!" I heard feet running down the hall towards me and I sprinted the opposite way in the direction I hoped the Gryffindor dormitory was in.
Filch grabbed my arm.
"What'd you think you're doing out of bed?" he asked with a leering smile. I decided to go with the response that was most likely to throw him off guard.
"The voices told me to." I said, opening my eyes wide in false lunacy.
"Wha-" He began, losing his grip.
"This isn't real! This is all a dream!" I shouted, running away.
As I turned the corner, I heard Peeves say in a serious voice,
"You really need to stop talking to yourself. People will think you've gone mad."
Rebecca Granger's P.O.V
I waited uncomfortably for Carter's signal. She had given us all some sort of communicator, and I kept my eyes on Lena, waiting.
"Alright, go ahead." I jumped as her voice issued out of the bracelet thingy.
I darted out from behind the statue, following her on cat feet. I ducked into a
classroom as she turned around, almost catching me. It was five in the morning, and just as Carter had predicted, Lena was heading out to the lake. There wasn't much cover, but the fog was so thick she would have a hard time spotting me. She met Draco there. I shivered. Carter had said this would happen too. That girl could be a bit scary. I took out my wand and the small pellets that Carter had given me.
"They're supposed to attract the giant squid." she had informed me. "You only have four though, so your aim has to be good. Attach them to Lena and Draco's clothing without them noticing. I found a reference in this book, that's all about giant squids. It really is a horrid book, but it had the information I needed. When I told Harry that we were going to use it to prank Draco, he was more than happy to steal it for us. He was practically radiant."
I used my wand to levitate the squid attractors onto the hems of their robes. I grinned. Perfect, and I didn't even have to use the spares. I glanced across the pond. The barely visible silhouettes of the others were filing in. I pressed a small button on my communicator.
"Carter, I'm ready." I breathed.
"Good. Get rid of the squid attractors and get out of there." she replied. I burned the pellets, hoping desperately that they wouldn't smell the burning plastic and chemicals.
I began to creep out from behind my hiding place behind a tree, when I ducked back behind it as I heard Draco's raised voice.
"Idiot girl!" That didn't sound like a loving brother. I heard an angry retort and a choking sob. Right as I was about to jump up and scream to her to jump back, as I now felt horrid, I heard a soft splash and tentacles reaching out of the water.
"GET OUT OF THE BLOODY WAY!" I screamed and leapt forward only to land on the soft grass. I looked up to see the two victims being pulled into the middle of the lake and then to my horror being dropped as the giant squid sank under. I screamed and waved my arms to get the others attention and I heard faint calls from the other side of the lake. How could the plan go so terribly wrong? I wondered. We had only meant to scare them but Draco was swimming away for his life, it seemed, and Lena was in the middle thrashing and shouting.
"HOLY [something unprintable] I CAN'T [something else that's highly censored] SWIM!" Oh dear gods, I thought. Not even two months in of my first year and I'm well on my way to being expelled. Father was right. I was doing exactly what he had warned me about. Lena seemed to be being pulled underwater by the swirling whirlpool the squid had created sinking beneath the surface. This was a horrible idea. I saw from the opposite bank a tall figure that had to be one of the twins take off his coat and dive in. I raced around to the other end of the lake, my lungs almost bursting at my adrenaline driven sprint. The sopping pair hauled themselves onto the bank, gasping for breath. Lena coughed up a considerable amount of water. George, who was the twin who stayed on the bank, shook his head as he looked at his shivering twin.
"You do realize you could've just used magic, you great heroic prat?"
"Well," Fred replied once he recovered his breath, grinning up at his brother, "I figured it would be more dramatic if I dove in. However," he finished, sneezing, "I didn't take the temperature of the water into consideration."
Carter was looking at Lena, who had been wrapped up in someone's jacket, with a considerable amount of concern. She was rocking back and forth, eyes wide.
"Are you alright?!" she said, voice breaching on hysteria. I could tell she felt horrible. The whole prank had been her idea, and she was obviously feeling responsible for the whole thing. Lena shuddered with cold and finally managed to stutter out an answer.
"A-aquaphobia. I c-can't control it."
I opened my eyes wide. She must be in deep shock for her to reveal such a piece of personal information. I felt as though a large hookworm was trying to eat it's way out of my stomach. I had already pushed her into the lake once and now I had been involved in throwing her into the water again, which just so happened to be her greatest fear. Great going Rebecca. Already turned into a terrorist. Mum and Dad will so proud when you join the Taliban. She looked up at us with narrowed eyes.
"This is your fault, isn't it?" she accused, addressing the whole group. Our guilty expressions were enough of an answer.
She stood up and marched away without a word.
"Where is she going?!" asked Ginny.
"We're going to be expelled." said Carter in an expressionless voice. I looked down at my feet unable to speak for the guilt banging at my heart.
"And the worst thing is, we deserve it." Brook finished.
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