I don´t kow if I´ve mentioned it before, but of course Harry Potter and all things around it belong to J.K. Rowling – we all know that, right?
Sorry for the delay in updating. My laptop is still dead. It will need new disk and then they´ll re-instal everything...it should be back home tomorrow, which will mean more regular updates. I have next three chapters planned in my head but no computer to type on... let´s hope it changes soon.
Thanks xWellJustMex , Splendora-C.A.M-McGonagall, HpDork FreakaZiod, Cookie05, llamasandsnickuhsbahrs for commenting!
Enjoy!
The morning of the final prank was hectic. Fred and George had a handful of fireworks ready for the evening and Jade was still working on the sketch of the picture they were going to create in front of the castle.
There was an inscription "keep Christmas in your heart" which then ended in huge spiral leading to the center of the field, where the biggest fireworks would start.
They would get it ready after dinner and light up the tracks of fireworks around nine when most of the students are still in common rooms, so they would see it.
Slytherin´s common room is in the dungeons so they won´t be able to enjoy the show, but who cares? – as Fred remarked.
They had it all set and planed by lunch time and spent the evening finishing up some homework and acting as innocently as they could, but at dinner, Jade could already feel the excitement in the air.
They got up from the table and walked out of the great hall. It wasn´t an unusual sight, Fred and George spent a lot of time with Jade and three of them could be often seen together chatting cheerfully, what meant that new pranks would be pulled soon.
Professor McGonagall looked after them with weary eyes. After weeks of relative silence from the Weasley twins and Jade, she was sure a prank would come. In fact, she was almost positive they had something to do with the Christmas decorations constantly present in the castle.
Professor Snape run into her office four times last week, throwing handfuls of holly and mistletoe on her table, demanding explanations. Almost all teachers and employees of Hogwarts knew who was the mischief maker responsible for this, but for now they had no evidence and nothing harmful happened so Professor McGonagall didn´t really know if she would punish the students if she found out who it was.
You can´t very well give detention for spreading Christmas cheer, can you?
It was still chilly outside and snow was slippery and covered in ice at night (although it got soggy and almost melted after the sun was up).
The new generation of Marauders worked like a team. Silently they stomped small paths through the frozen snow and after they´ve met in the middle, George handed his siblings bags filled with powder they took out of the fireworks and they poured it on the corridors of frozen snow.
"We have to work quickly, if the snow starts to melt and soaks the powder it won´t work." Whispered Fred and poured a handful of grayish substance on the ground.
Jade looked around. Preparations were finished, they were now waiting for the clock on the castle to chime nine times. Everything looked peaceful. Sky was clear with stars and it promised bright tomorrow. Forest was dark and gloomy but Hagrid´s house was illuminated by warm yellow light shining through his windows.
Jade could see silhouettes of her brothers, standing still on the other side of the field.
The big hand on the clock moved to the very top and loud bells started to chime. Fred, standing in the middle, lit up a match and started first small fireworks.
It worked like miracle and when the red sparkles died, faces appeared in windows and Jade could hear students laughing and calling their friends to come and look at the show.
The bells chimed for the last time and that was the signal to light the paths which would create the inscription.
It worked quite well, but the powder exploded in a very violent manner, sending showers of stars in every direction, earning a series of "Awww!" and "Ooooh!" from the watching students.
The powder wasn´t waterproof, however and soon Jade found herself running after the sparkles and lighting them up again after they ended in a particularly wet area of the ground.
Fred and George were doing the same and soon there were huge black letters on the snow, illuminated by long lasting fireworks surrounding the area. The large spiral burned really well, but at the end when it was supposed to start the largest fireworks the sparkles went off again.
Fred, George and Jade, not wanting to ruin the show all jumped to the middle and set the rackets on fire.
For a little while, which seemed like eternity to the three waiting kids, the fireworks exploded, sent them flying away from the middle of the spiral, knocking the breath out of Jade.
As she was lying on the snow, looking up at all the red and golden stars slowly falling down from the fireworks, jade realized two things.
First of them was that professor McGonagall has seen the show too and she´ll be coming down really soon, and second thing were Jade´s eyebrows. They got completely burned during the explosion.
Fred and George got up from the ground at the same time, running to Jade.
"Are you ok?" George asked while Fred pulled Jade up by her hands.
"Yeah, and you?" she asked, noticing a big shiny burn on Fred´s right hand. She touched the side of the wound gently and he winced, although, it could have been the effect of professor´s McGonagall´s voice coming from the entrance.
"This is enough! Hanging up Christmas decoration around the castle and on the whomping willow is one thing, but staying outside, after dark and setting the field on fire! What were you thinking!"
Professor McGonagall was standing right at their side now, but she didn´t bother to speak more quietly. She looked over Jade´s face, gave quick cold glance at Fred´s burned hand and brushed off some ashes from George´s jacket.
"You will go to the headmaster´s office now. You can expect week of detention which you will serve in my office at eight after dinner. Plus whatever punishment the headmaster finds necessary." She announced strictly and lead them to the castle. Jade could head applause and congratulations from the students who were still looking out of the windows as the last fireworks went out, but they seemed far away now, when all the excitement was lost in her worries.
Professor Dumbledore was still wearing the dress robes which he had at dinner. His office was dark and the only light was coming from a couple of candles floating around his desk.
Dumbledore himself was standing by the window. He turned around when three young Gryffindors walked in, and Jade realized he was smiling.
"You may sit down is you wish, I myself prefer to stand or walk a bit after dinner. It helps digestion."
George and Fred walked to the comfortably looking chairs and sat down but Jade was still too shocked to move and she decided it would be safer option to look at her shoes and pretend she wasn´t there.
"I assume, you three are the authors of the prolonged Christmas prank. Am I right?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes shining in the light from the candles.
"Yes, sir." Answered George, looking headmaster in the eyes. Jade watched him with terror. Neither of the boys looked guilty or scared about the punishment.
"We think it was…" started Fred.
"…one of our best pranks, sir." Continued George, and then he looked at Jade who was still frozen in place.
"Indeed it was. I have never enjoyed Christmas as much as I did this year. I always thought we take the decorations down too soon." Smiled Dumbledore and offered them a plate of gingerbread.
"And those charming knitted sweaters were my favorite." Continued Dumbledore.
"That was all Jade´s idea. She suggested we make miniature copies of Weasley´s sweaters and so we used the ones from previous years." Explained Fred, and Jade´s eyes got even wider when all three pairs of eyes looked at her waiting for confirmation or at least some sign that she was proud of her idea, but she couldn´t speak.
"Oh well, I suppose the Christmas is really over now?" asked Dumbledore, sitting down behind his desk.
"It is, sir. We will enjoy mornings without early wake up calls now." Said George.
"At least for a while." Added Fred.
"So, now for the punishment. Professor McGonagall has already given you a full week of detention. I expect you to be there on time every night, understood? Christmas cheer is nothing bad, but next time…" Dumbledore winked at them "…you need to take more precautions and do pay attention to safety. Burned eyebrows and hands are one thing, but fireworks are for professionals and adults. I´m sure you can find other ways for celebrating." Dumbledore yawned and looked at his watch.
"It´s time for bed and you have classes tomorrow, I won´t keep you any longer. This time it will be just warning. But if similar accidents should repeat in the future, I assure you, more severe punishment will be waiting for you. Safety first, fun second. Alright? After all, I have a castle full of students to take care about." Finished Dumbledore in apologetic tone, and when they were leaving, Jade noticed a bunch of mistletoe berries hanging over the door of his office.
"That was close." Laughed Fred as they walked through the corridors.
"Could have been much worse, plus it was worth it!" answered George.
"everyone has seen the show, it was epic." Exclaimed Fred, but winced when his burned hand brushed against the fabric of his jacket.
"Quick stop at the hospital wing would do you some good." Announced George and pushed his twin and Jade in opposite direction.
Madam Pomfrey grew Jade´s eyebrows back, and checked over the small scratches on her face, then applied generous layer of purple paste over Fred´s burned hand and wrapped it in bandages.
She sent them away, with some remarks about fireworks being dangerous and how they shouldn´t be tolerated at Hogwarts.
When Jade finally climbed to bed, her roommates were already asleep, but there was a small note lying on her pillow saying "We loved the fireworks, and we´ll keep Christmas in our hearts"
She smiled and set the note carefully to her bedside table, but even though she felt tired, sleep wouldn´t come.
Jade could see Molly, disappointed because of the detention, and she saw Fred´s burned hand, which would hunt her in the nightmares for a long time. She also saw Dumbledore, saying that next time they do something dangerous, there will be consequences, and then Molly again, angry at her, for supporting twins in their ideas.
Jade woke up next morning and when she went down to breakfast with girls, Fred and George were already sitting at the table, telling their friends about last night. They took it as something great and Dumbledore´s lecture was a mere compliment, not a warning for them.
Jade finally let go of her fears and enjoyed beautiful sunny Monday, but when McGonagall called her after their transfiguration class, a heavy stone fell to her stomach as Jade wasn´t sure if she wouldn´t throw up. Her hands were sweating as she approached the desk and waited for professor McGonagall to start speaking.
"Miss Mraz, I hope you will remember your detention tonight, eight sharp, in front of my office. Please remind your brothers to be on time."
"Yes, professor." Nodded Jade and looked at the door, wishing to be anywhere else.
"And, Miss Mraz, I need to tell you that I will be informing your parents about yesterday´s incident. It is standard protocol to inform parents after dangerous events." Professor finished strictly and let Jade go.