Career's Advice

"Why do you not have any more Occlumency lessons?" Chrys frowned.

"Because Snape felt I can carry on now that I've got the basics." Arthur muttered.

"So you've stopped having funny dreams?" Chrys asked.

"Yep." Arthur said.

"Well, that's good." Mike said fondly before kissing Arthur on the cheek, making Arthur feel better.

It was the first day of the Easter holidays and with six weeks left until their exams, Arthur, Mike, David and Chrys all started work on their homework.

"Hey, Arthur, I saw Cho earlier." Chrys said tentatively after a short while of the four working in silence. "She looked miserable. What happened?"

"She tried to defend Marietta after what she did and I told her that if she keeps it up, we shouldn't be friends." Arthur replied coolly, currently on his Defence Against the Dark Arts homework.

"I'm not surprised. She's to blame for everything." David spat in fury.

Despite doing the homework, what he saw in the Pensieve was starting to eat him up from the inside. He was so sure that his parents were great people, especially with what most that knew them said of them. He always thought Snape was just an immature twat that never moved on.

He remembered McGonagall saying how his father and Sirius were bright students, yet why would they just make someone hang upside down for the fun of it? The only reason was because the two, especially John, loathed Snape, feeling like he deserved it.

He went through what his parents said to each other and he remembered how Rose never said anything about anyone else being bullied by John and Sirius. Yet why would Dumbledore make Lupin a Prefect to exercise control on John and Sirius? Especially since he just let it happen.

Arthur remembered the look of Rose's face when she shouted at John, which disturbed him so much. He now wondered if they were forced into a marriage.

For almost five years, his father was a source of pride, inspiration and comfort. Whenever someone told him how much he was like John, he'd be consumed with pride. But now he just felt disappointed and miserable.

The weather started growing breezier, brighter and warmer as the Easter holiday continued, yet Arthur, as well as the rest of the fifth and seventh years, were trapped inside, going back and forth to the library.

Arthur pretended that his bad mood was just because of the exams that crept nearer and nearer. And since his fellow Gryffindors were sick of studying, they didn't question him. Of course, Quidditch practice lost some of its fun, and Angelina, knowing that the twins could end up expelled, she brought in two new Beaters substitutes naked Jack Sloper and Andrew Kirke, who were the least worst out of the people who tried out for the roles.

"Arthur, are you alright?"

"Huh?"

He looked and was surprised to see Mary Merlon, looking very windswept, joining him at the library table where he sat on his own.

It was late on Sunday evening: Chrys was back in Gryffindor Tower revising Ancient Runes and both David and Mike were playing some Gobstones there as well, since Arthur wanted to be on his own.

"Hi." Arthur said, pulling his books towards him.

"A package just arrived for you. It only just got through Umbridge's new screening process." Mary said, hoisting a box wrapped in brown paper onto the table. It was clearly unwrapped and carelessly rewrapped/ There was a scribbled note across it in red ink, reading:

Inspected and Passed by the Hogwarts High Inquisitor

"Mum's Easter eggs." Mary said. "There's one for you."

She handed him a handsome looking chocolate egg that was decorated with small iced Snitches and lions and, according to the packaging, containing a bag of Fizzing Whizzbees. Arthur looked for a moment and felt a lump rise in his throat.

"What's wrong?" Mary asked quietly.

Arthur sighed, looking around to see that Madam Pince was several shelves away, stamping a pile of books for a frantic Hannah Abbott.

"I just wish I could talk to Sirius, but I can't." Arthur muttered.

"Well…" Mary said, sitting down. "...if you really do want to talk to him, we could find a way to make that happen."

"Really? With Umbridge policing the fires and reading all our mail?" Arthur questioned in disbelief.

"Arthur… I've grown up with Jack and Kevin and if you grow up with them, you start thinking that anything's possible if you have the nerve to do something about it."

Arthur looked at her, now feeling hopeful as his wish now seemed possible.

With that, he and Mary left with their stuff and headed back to Gryffindor Tower.

As though it were to underline how important their upcoming examinations are, a batch of pamphlets, leaflets and notices that concerned various wizarding careers appeared on the tables of Gryffindor Tower shortly before the end of the holidays, along with another notice on the board, that read:

CAREERS ADVICE

All fifth years are required to attend a short meeting with their Head of House during the first week of the summer term to discuss their future careers. Times of individual appointments are listed below.

Arthur looked down the list and saw that he was to be in McGonagall's office at half past two on Monday, meaning he'd miss most of Divination.

While all the other fifth years spent a large part of the final weekend of the Easter break reading all the careers information that was left for them to go over, Arthur, Mike and David sat back as they knew what careers they'd like to have.

Chrys, meanwhile, was busy, going over what she'd like to do.

"So far… being a Healer seems the most interesting…." She said on the last evening of the holidays, reading a leaflet that bore the St Mungo's emblem. "You at least need an 'E' at N.E.W.T. level in Potions, Herbology, Transfiguration, Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"Hey." A voice whispered in Arthur's ear. He looked and saw that the twins had joined them.

"Mary just told us about you." Jack said as he stretched out his legs on the table in front of them, causing several booklets on careers with the Ministry of Magic to slide off onto the floor. "She says you need to talk to Sirius?"

"What?" Mike, David and Chrys said at once.

"Yeah." Arthur nodded.

"Arthur, Umbridge is groping around in the fires and frisking all the owls, remember?" Chrys pointed out.

"Well, we know a way around that." Kevin said, stretching and smiling. "We were thinking a diversion would be the best way to make sure you talk to your godfather. Of course, we've been quiet on the mayhem front during the Easter holidays."

"Yeah, we didn't want to disrupt leisure time?" Jack said. "Plus, we'd mess up with people's revision, which is just going too far for us."

"But come tomorrow, it's business as usual." Kevin said. "And if we're going to cause an uproar, may as well do it so that Arthur can talk with Sirius."

"But even if you do cause the diversion, how will Arthur talk to him?" Chrys pointed out.

"Umbridge's office. She told me that her fireplace isn't monitored." Arthur said quietly.

"Arthur, that's just a whole new level of insane." Mike said, concerned for his boyfriend.

"Maybe, but can you think of another way for me to talk to Sirius?" Arthur reminded him and Mike had to admit that he was right with a sigh of defeat.

"But how will you get in there in the first place?" David asked.

"Sirius' knife. He gave it to me at Christmas in the previous year. It can only any lock. So even if Umbridge bewitched her door, I can just use it." Arthur replied.

"Okay, then." Jack said. "We'll be thinking of doing it tomorrow, just after lessons as it'll cause the maximum amount of impact if everyone's in the corridors. Arthur, we'll set it off in the east wing to draw her as far as possible from her office. We should guarantee you around twenty minutes?" He asked Kevin.

"Easy." Kevin nodded.

"What kind of diversion would it be?" David asked.

"Don't want to ruin the surprise, little brother." Jack said as he and Kevin got up again. "If you find yourself by Gregory the Smarmy's corridor by five o'clock tomorrow, you'll see it."

Arthur woke up very early the next day, feeling very anxious, just as anxious as he was on the morning of his disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic.

Not only was this because he'd be breaking into Umbridge's office to speak to Sirius through her fire, but also because today would be the first time Arthur would be in close proximity to Snape since he threw him out of his office.

After he laid in bed for a while thinking about what the day ahead of him would bring, he got up very quietly and moved across to the window beside Neville's bed and stared out to a gorgeous morning. The sky was a clear, misty, opalescent blue. And directly ahead of, Arthur could see the towering beech tree below where his father once tormented Snape.

Arthur wasn't sure what Sirius could say that would make up for what he saw in the Pensieve, but he just had to hear Sirius' own account of what happened, to know what factors came into play to excuse his father's behaviour.

Arthur then saw movement on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He squinted to see that it was Hagrid emerging from between the trees. He also looked like he was limping. He staggered to the door of his cabin and disappeared inside it.

Arthur watched the cabin for several more minutes, only for Hagrid to not emerge again, though smoke furled from the chimney, meaning that Hagrid couldn't be too badly injured that he couldn't stoke the fire.

He then turned away from the window and beaded back to his trunk to start getting dressed.

The prospect of forcing entry into Umbridge's office made Arthur's day a bit tense, considering the risk that came with it.

The entire time during History of Magic, he was so tense that he was barely able to get through the lesson.

Then he was even more tense when they went down into the dungeons for Potions. It seemed that Snape decided to treat Arthur like he was invisible. Arthur didn't mind it, heck, he was glad that he didn't endure anything worse.

He was able to concoct an Invigoration Draught with relative ease and by the end of the lesson, he put some of the potion into a flask and took it to Snape's desk.

Then after lunch, instead of continuing on to Divination, he went to McGonagall's office for his careers appointment.

He knocked on the door and entered.

"Welcome, Pendergast, sit down." McGonagall said. As Arthur did as he was told, he heard sniffing in the corner, making him look to see it was Umbridge.

She sat there, a clipboard on her knee, a fussy little pie frill around her neck and a small, horribly smug smile was on her face.

Arthur noticed that McGonagall's hands shook slightly as she shuffled many pamphlets that littered her desk.

His back was to Umbridge and he did his best to pretend that he wasn't hearing the scratching of her quill on her clipboard.

"Well, Pendergast, this meeting is to talk over any career ideas you might have, and to help you decide which subjects you should continue into the sixth and seventh years." McGonagall said. "Have you had any thoughts about what you would like to do after you leave Hogwarts?"

"Yes." Arthur nodded.

"And?" McGonagall prompted him.

"I'm thinking of becoming an Auror." Arthur said.

"You'd need top grades for that." McGonagall said, extracting a small dark leaflet from her the mass on her desk and opened it. "They ask for a minimum of five N.E.W.T.s, and nothing under 'Exceeds Expectations' grade, I see. Then you would be required to undergo a stringent series of character and aptitude tests at the Aurur office. It's a difficult career path, Pendergast, they only take the best. In fact, I don't think anybody has been taken on in the last three years."

At that moment, Umbridge made a very tiny cough, like she was trying to see how quietly she could do it and to interrupt McGonagall, who just ignored her.

"You'll want to know which subjects you ought to take, I suppose?" She said, louder than before.

"Yes." Arthur. "Defence Against the Dark Arts, naturally."

"Naturally." McGonagall said crisply. "I would also advise -"

"Umbridge made another cough, this one being more audible. McGonagall closed her eyes for a moment, opened them again and continued like nothing happened.

"I would also advise Transfiguration, because Aurors frequently need to Transfigure or Untransfigure in their work. And I ought to tell you now, Pendergast, that I do not accept students into my N.E.W.T. classes unless they have achieved 'Exceeds Expectations' or higher at Ordinary Wizarding Level. And I'd say you're one of my best students in my class, at 'Outstanding', so you'll have no problem. Then you ought to do Charms, always useful, and Potions. Poisons and antidotes are essential study for Aurors. And I must tell you that Professor Snape absolutely refuses to take students who get anything other than 'Outstanding' in their O.W.L.s, so -"

Umbridge now made her most pronounced cough yet.

"May I offer you a cough drop, Dolores?" McGonagall asked curtly, not looking at her.

"Oh, no, thank you very much." Umbridge said in her simpering laugh that Arthur hated so much. "I just wondered whether I could make the teeniest interruption, Minerva?"

"I daresay you'll find you can." McGonagall said through gritted teeth.

"I was just wondering whether Mr Pendergast has quite the temperament for an Auror?" Umbridge asked sweetly.

"Were you?" McGonagall asked haughtily. "Well, Pendergast…" She continued, like there was no interruption. "...if you are serious in this ambition, I would advise you to concentrate hard on maintaining your high grades in Transfiguration, Potions and Charms. I see Professor Flitwick has graded you between 'Exceeds Expectations' and 'Outstanding' for the last two years. As for Defence Against the Dark Arts, your marks have always been the highest, Professor Lupin in particular thought you - are you quite sure you wouldn't like a cough drop, Dolores?"

"Oh, no need, thank you, Minerva." Umbridge simpered after her loudest cough yet. "I was just concerned that you might not have Arthur's most recent Defence Against the Dark Arts marks in front of you, I'm quite sure I slipped in a note."

"What, this thing?" McGonagall said in a tone of revulsion as she pulled out a sheet of pink parchment from between the leaves of Arthur's folder. She glanced down at it, her eyebrows slightly raised, then placed it back into the folder without comment.

"Yes, as I was saying, Pendergast, Professor Lupin thought you showed a pronounced aptitude for the subject, and obviously for an Auror -"

"Did you not understand my note, Minerva?" Umbridge interrupted in honeyed tones, not even bothering to cough.

"Of course I understand it." McGonagall said, her teeth now clenched so tightly that the words came out a bit muffled.

"Well, then, I'm confused… I'm afraid I don't quite understand how you can give Mr Pendergast false hope that -"

"False hope?" McGonagall repeated, refusing to look at her. "He has achieved top marks in all his Defence Against the Dark Arts tests -"

"I'm terribly sorry to contradict you, Minerva, but as you will see from my note, Arthur hasn't been achieving his usual standard in his classes with me -"

"I should have made my meaning plainer." McGonagall said, now looking at her directly in the eyes. "He has achieved top marks in all Defence Against the Dark Arts tests set by a competent teacher."

Umbridge's smile now vanished. She sat back in her chair, turned a sheet on her clipboard and started scribbling very fast, her bulging eyes rolling from side to side.

McGonagall turned back to Arthur, her thin nostrils flared, eyes burning.

"Any questions, Pendergast?"

"Yes." Arthur said. "What kind of character and aptitude tests does the Ministry do on you, if you get the N.E.W.T.s required?"

"Well, you'll need to demonstrate the ability to react well to pressure and so forth…" McGonagall said. "...perseverance and dedication, because Auror training takes a further three years, not to mention very high skills in practical Defence. It will mean a lot more study even after you've left school, so unless you're prepared to -"

"I think you'll also find…" Umbridge said, her voice now cold. "...that the Ministry looks into the records of those applying to be Aurors. Their criminal records."

" - unless you're prepared to take even more exams after Hogwarts, you should look at another -"

"Which means that this boy has as much chance of becoming an Auror as Dumbledore has of ever returning to this school."

"A very good chance, then." McGonagall said.

"Pendergast has a criminal record." Umbridge said loudly.

"Pendergast has been cleared of all charges." McGonagall replied back, even louder.

Umbridge now stood, she was so short that this didn't make any difference, but her fussy, simpering demeanour had given place to a hard fury that made her broad, flabby face look sinister.

"Pendergast has no chance whatsoever of becoming an Auror!"

McGonagall now got to her feet, looking very impressive as she towered over Umbridge.

"Pendergast." She said in ringing tones. "I will assist you to become an Auror if it is the last thing I do! If I have to coach you nightly, I will make sure you achieve the required results!"

"The Minister for Magic will never employ Arthur Pendergast!" Umbridge said with her voice rising furiously.

"There may well be a new Minister for Magic by the time Pendergast is ready to join!" McGonagall shouted.

"Aha!" Umbridge shrieked, pointing a stubby finger at McGonagall. "Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Of course! That's what you want, isn't it, Minerva McGonagall? You want Cornelius Fudge replaced by Albus Dumbledore! You think you'll be where I am, don't you: Senior Undersecretary to the Minister and Headmistress to boot!"

"You are raving!" McGonagall said disdainfully. "Pendergast, that concludes our careers consultation."

Arthur swung his bag over his shoulder and hurried out of there, not even daring to look at Umbridge.

He could hear her and McGonagall still shouting at each other all the way back along the corridor.

Umbridge breathed as though she had just run a race when striding into their Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson that afternoon.

As the class went over 'Chapter Thirty Four, Non Retaliation and Negotiation', Umbridge would, every now and then, shoot glowering looks at Arthur, who would just ignore her.

Arthur was thinking about how McGonagall would react if Arthur was caught trespassing in Umbridge's office after she vouched for him, but he felt like he needed to go ahead with this, he had to talk to Sirius about what he saw in the Pensieve and since the twins would have set up the diversion, he had better keep up his part of the scheme.

He then remembered how his father thought that unnecessary risks were too dangerous, but he felt that this was a necessary risk.

After Arthur left the classroom, he was so tense and focused that he ignored everyone.

He was halfway along the corridor outside when he heard the unmistakable sound of a diversion going off in the distance. There were screams and yells reverberating from somewhere above them, people exiting their classrooms around Arthur stopped in their tracks and looked at the ceiling fearfully.

Umbridge pelted out of her classroom as fast as her short legs could carry her, pulling out her wand and hurrying off in the opposite direction.

Arthur waited for everyone to leave for the east wing until he bolted back into the classroom and pulled out his magical knife, inserting the blade into the crack around the door to Umbridge's office, moving it gently up and down until he withdrew it.

There was a tiny click and the door swung open. He slipped inside, closed the door and looked around.

Nothing moved except for the horrible kitten that still frolicked on the wall plates. He strode over the fireplace and found a small box containing glittering Floo powder.

He crouched down in front of the empty grate, his hands shaking slightly. He had never done this before. He stuck his head into the fireplace, took a large pinch of the powder and dropped it onto the logs stacked neatly beneath him. They exploded at once into emerald green flames.

"Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place!" Arthur said loudly and clearly.

It had to be the most curious sensation he ever experienced. He had travelled by Floo powder before, but it was previously his whole body that spun around and around in the flames through the network of wizarding fireplaces that stretched over the country. This time, however, his knees were remaining firm on the cold floor of Umbridge's office and only his head hurtled through the emerald fire….

Then, as abruptly as it had begun, the spinning stopped. Feeling sick and like he wore a hot muffler around his head, Arthur opened his eyes and found himself looking out of the kitchen fireplace at the long wooden table, where a man sat poring over a piece of parchment.

"Sirius?"

The man jumped and looked around. It was actually Lupin.

"Arthur!" He said, looking very shocked. "What are you - what's happened, is everything alright?"

"I need to talk to Sirius." Arthur demanded.

"I'll call him." Lupin said as he got to his feet, still looking perplexed. "He went upstairs to look for Kreacher, he seems to be hiding in the attic again…."

Arthur then saw him hurry out of the kitchen. All he could do now was look at the chair and table legs. It was now becoming uncomfortable for him to speak out through a fire as his knees were now becoming painful thanks to the prolonged contact of Umbridge's hard stone floor.

Eventually, Lupin returned with Sirius at his heels moments later.

"What is it?" His godfather asked urgently, sweeping his dark hair out of his eyes and dropping to the ground in front of the fire for him and Arthur to be on a level. Lupin knelt down as well, looking concerned. "Are you alright? Do you need help?"

"I actually want to talk about my dad."

The two exchanged looks of great surprise, but Arthur didn't have time to be awkward or embarrassed and just went into explaining what he saw in the Pensieve.

By the time he finished, neither Sirius or Lupin spoke for a moment.

Then Lupin quietly said "I wouldn't like you to judge your father on what you saw there, Arthur. He was only fifteen -"

"I'm fifteen!" Arthur said heatedly.

"Arthur." Sirius said placatingly. "John and Snape hated each other from the moment they set eyes on each other. John even admitted that the moment he laid eyes on him, he just had that gut feeling that he was awful. You can understand that, can't you? Plus, John was everything Snape wanted to be - he was popular, he was good at Quidditch - good at pretty much everything. And Snape was just this little oddball who was up to his eyes in the Dark Arts, and John - whatever else he may have appeared to you, Arthur - despised the Dark Arts with a burning passion."

"Maybe…" Arthur said. "...but he attacked Snape for no reason."

"He attacked him any chance he had just to put Snape in his place. And I'll admit I'm not proud of it." Sirius said.

Lupin looked sideways at Sirius before saying "Look, Arthur, what you've got to understand is that your father and Sirius were the best in the school at whatever they did - everyone thought they were the height of cool." He then smiled.

"He kept messing up his hair." Arthur said in a pained voice.

This made both men laugh.

"I'd forgotten he used to do that." Sirius said affectionately.

"Was he playing with the Snitch?" Lupin said eagerly.

"He was." Arthur said. "He said it was to keep his reflexes sharp."

"That was him, alright. He cared so much for Quidditch." Sirius said.

"He also made looks to the girls by the lake, like he was thinking about mum."

"He was. He always felt drawn to Rose." Sirius said.

"But how could she have married him? She hated him!" Arthur said miserably.

"Nah, she didn't." Sirius said.

"She started going out with him in sixth year." Lupin said.

"Did dad only go after Snape?" Arthur asked.

"He did. He never bullied anyone else. Of course, he stopped after he started dating Rose, though Snape never matured, always going after John at any opportunity. And John couldn't take that lying down." Lupin explained.

"Did mum know?" Arthur asked.

"He didn't know too much about it, to tell you the truth." Sirius said. "I mean, John didn't take Snape on dates with her and jinx him in front of her, did he?"

Arthur still wasn't sure, which Sirius noticed.

"Look, your father was the best friend I ever had and he was a good person. He always has been."

"Right." Arthur said, now feeling like he fully understood his father better. "I was worried that I'd feel sorry for Snape, which would be disgusting."

"Now that you mention it…" Lupin said with a faint crease between his eyebrows. "...how did Snape react when he found you'd seen all this?"

"It was the closest I've ever been to being scared of Snape. He then said he'd never teach me Occlumency again." Arthur replied.

"He WHAT?" Sirius shouted.

"But it's fine, I'm no longer having any dreams and visions." Arthur replied quickly, which relieved the two men.

"Thank goodness, for a second I thought I was going to have a word with Snape." Lupin said.

Suddenly, Arthur heard distant footsteps.

"Is that Kreacher coming downstairs?"

"No." Sirius said, glancing behind him. "It must be somebody on your end."

"I gotta go!" Arthur said hastily, pulling his head backwards from the Grimmauld Place fire.

"Quickly, quickly!" He heard a wheezy voice mutter from outside the office door. "Ah, she's left it open -"

Arthur pulled out his Invisibility Cloak and pulled it over himself when Filch entered.

He looked truly delighted about something and talked to himself feverishly as he crossed the room, pulling open a drawer in Umbridge's desk and rifled through the papers inside it.

"Approval for Whipping… Approval for Whipping… I can do it at last… they've had it coming to them for years…."

He pulled out a piece of parchment, kissed it and shuffled rapidly back out, clutching it to his chest.

Arthur leapt to his feet and, making sure that he had his bag and that his Invisibility Cloak was covering him completely, he wretched the door open and hurried out of the office and classroom after Filch, who hobbled along faster than Arthur had ever seen him go.

One landing down, Arthur thought it was safe to be visible again and pulled the Cloak off, shoving it into his bag and hurried onwards.

There was a lot of shouting and movement from the Entrance Hall. He ran down the marble staircase and found what had to be most of the school assembled there.

It was so much like the night that Trelawney was sacked. Students stood around the walls in a great ring (some of them were covered in a substance that resembled Stinksap); teachers and ghosts were among the crowd. Prominent among the onlookers were members of the Inquisitorial Squad, who all looked pleased with themselves. And Peeves, who bobbed overhead, gazed down at Jack and Kevin, who stood in the middle of the floor with the unmistakable look of people who were just cornered.

"So!" Umbridge said triumphantly. She stood just a few stairs in front of Arthur, looking down upon her prey. "So - you think it amusing to turn a school corridor into a swamp, do you?"

"With you as Headmistress and making this school into a prison? Yes!" Jack said without any trace of fear on his face.

Filch elbowed his way closer to Umbridge, almost crying with happiness.

"I've got the form, Headmistress." He said hoarsely, waving the parchment Arthur saw him take from her desk. "I've got the form and I've got the whips waiting… oh, let me do it now…."

"Very good, Argus." Umbridge said. "You two…" She went on, gazing down at the twins. "...are about to learn what happens to wrongdoers in my school."

"It is not your school and never will be!" Jack yelled before looking to his twin. "Besides, we aren't. Kevin, we've now outgrown our full time education."

"Yeah, what can we learn from this ugly toad?" Kevin said lightly.

"Then it's about time we test our talents in the real world." Jack said.

"Yep."

Before Umbridge could say a word, they raised their wands and said together: "Accio brooms!"

Arthur heard a loud crash and ducked in time as the twins' broomsticks hurtled along the corridor towards their owners; they then turned left, streaking down the stairs and stopped sharply in front of the twins.

"We aren't going to be seeing you!" Jack told Umbridge as he mounted his broom.

"Don't even bother keeping in touch!" Kevin added, mounting his broom as well.

Jack then looked at the assembled students.

"If any of you fancy buying a Portable Swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, then come to Number Ninety Three, Diagon Alley - Merlons' Magical Merchandising!" He said in a loud voice. "Our new premises!"

"Special discounts go to any student who swears to use our products to get rid of this ugly toad!" Kevin added, pointing at Umbridge.

"STOP THEM!" Umbridge shrieked, though it was too late. As her Inquisitorial Squad closed in, the twins kicked off from the floor, shooting fifteen feet in the air. Jack then looked across the hall at the poltergeist that bobbed on his level above the crowd.

"Give her hell from us, Peeves!"

And Peeves, who Arthur never saw take orders from a student before, swept his belled hat from his head and sprang to a salute as the twins wheels about to tumultuous applause from the students below and sped out of the open front doors and into the glorious sunset.

The twins are LEGENDARY!